Picturesque  •  Political  •  Progressive 


MARY    ELIZABETH   BLAKE 

AUTHOR  OF  "on  THE  WING"  "  POEMS "  ETC. 
AND 

MARGARET   F.  SULLIVAN 

author    of   "IRELAND   OF   TO-DAY " 


"  Pais  querido  y  hermoso,  cuya  belleza  es  conocido  solo 
por  sus  hijos  !  Como  mcreces  ser  conocido  y  estimado  por 
todos ! "  —  Anonimo. 


BOSTON  i88S 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD    Publishers 

10  MILK  STREET  NEXT  "THE  OLD  SOUTH  MEETING-HOUSE " 

NEW  YORK  CHARLES  T    DILLINGHAM 

718   AND   720   BROADWAY 


The  authors  desire  to  return  thanks  to  the 
editors  of  the  "Boston  Journal,"  and  the  "Cath- 
olic World "  of  New  York,  for  their  courtesy  in 
allowing  the  use  of   articles  which  had  formerly 

appeared  in  their  columns. 

M.  E.  B. 

M.  F.  S. 


Copyright,  iS88,  by  Lee  and  Shepard. 


Ail  rights  reserved. 


Mexico:   Picturesque,  Political,  Progressive. 


r 


^^^•TTV 


CONTENTS 


PART    I 


PICTURESQUE    MEXICO 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  —  Into  the  Sun  Land 7 

II  —  Glimpses  of  a  New  World 27 

III  —  The  City  of  Mexico 54 

IV  —  Through  Lanes  and  Highways 76 

V  —  On  the  Southern  Slope 95 

VI  —  Shrines  and  Pilgrimages 117 

VII  —  Literary  INIexico  :  a  Group  of  Novels  .    .    .  133 

VIII  —  Blossoms  of  Verse 159 


PART    II 

POLITICAL    AND    PROGRESSIVE   MEXICO 

IX  —  From  Conquest  to  Independence 173 

X  —  Constitution  and  Government 191 

XI  —  Religion  and  Education 199 

XII  —  Revenue  and  its  Application 213 


.  Kjf  «.* '  jt  r—  O  «I7 


PART  I 
PICTURESQUE    MEXICO 


BY 

MARY   E.  BLAKE 


MEXICO 

PICTURESQUE    POLITICAL    PROGRESSIVE 


CHAPTER   I 

INTO    THE    SUN    LAND 

In  these  days,  when  a  passion  for  travelling  has 
become  one  of  the  manias  of  American  civiliza- 
tion, and  people  seek  the  excitement  of  novelty 
in  despite  of  difficulty  and  danger,  it  is  not 
strange  to  find  that  fashion  so  tempers  fancy  as 
to  set  the  tides  of  desire  flowing  in  special  direc- 
tions, while  equal  or  greater  attractions  arc  left 
high  and  dry  outside  the  current  of  sentimental 
regard.  Thus  it  comes  to  pass,  that,  where  thou- 
sands cross  the  seas  to  gain  a  more  or  less 
superficial  acquaintance  with  the  main  points  of 
European  scenery,  one  could  reckon  within  the 
limits  of  as  many  hundreds  those  who  become  in 
any  degree    familiar  with    the  wonderful    beauty 


8  MEXICO  —  PICTURESQUE 

which  Nature  has  lavished  upon  our  own  land. 
It  is  evident  that  many  instincts  of  love,  of 
remembrance,  and  of  affection  naturally  go  to 
increase  pilgrimages  to  the  shrines  of  the  Old 
World,  But,  when  every  allowance  has  been 
made,  there  still  remains  an  unaccountable  lack 
of  curiosity  and  knowledge  concerning  that  por- 
tion of  the  world  which  is  essentially  ours. 

This  being  so,  it  is  small  cause  for  surprise  to 
find  near  us,  united  to  portions  of  our  southern 
country  by  ties  of  common  origin,  customs,  and 
language,  a  land  almost  unknown,  much  mis- 
understood, and  wholly  misrepresented.  A  coun- 
try picturesque  beyond  description,  and  beautiful 
beyond  belief ;  with  traditions  of  the  past  to 
interest  the  antiquarian,  and  problems  of  the 
future  to  occupy  the  progressionist ;  with  the 
fascinations  of  a  strange  tongue  and  a  strange 
people,  and  with  that  indefinable  charm  which 
those  indolent,  lotos-eating  lands  exercise  always 
over  the  sterner  and  colder  nature  of  the  north- 
man,  —  Mexico  lies  among  her  mountains,  almost 
as  far  removed  from  human  ken  as  the  Enchanted 
Beauty  before  the  Prince  kissed  her  sleeping  eyes. 

Separated  from  Texas  at  El  Paso  only  by  the 


ACROSS   THE   RIVER  9 

narrow  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande,  one  enters 
Mexico  with  no  more  consciousness  of  change 
than  in  passing  from  one  portion  of  a  frontier 
town  to  another.  Until  within  a  few  years  the 
passage  was  made  by  means  of  a  primitive  rope 
ferry,  with  a  dehcious  slowness  and  uncertainty 
which  were  partial  preparation  for  the  strange- 
ness beyond.  Some  taint  (or  shall  we  call  it 
tonic .')  of  Bohemianism  there  is  in  most  healthy 
human  natures,  which  creates  delight  in  the 
unconventional,  and  makes  the  pulse  throb  with 
excitement  at  the  first  escape  from  routine.  At 
the  entrance  to  a  new  world,  one  craves  something 
beyond  the  practical  methods  of  commonplace, 
but  to-day  the  triteness  of  a  hackneyed  civiliza- 
tion follows  one  to  the  very  threshold.  A  jingling 
little  tramway  crosses  a  wooden  bridge,  and  the 
traveller  steps  into  the  streets  of  El  Paso  del 
Norte  with  the  straws  and  dust  of  a  familiar 
world  still  clinging  to  him.  But  in  a  moment  it 
is  as  if  a  magician's  wand  had  been  raised.  He 
left  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  the  busy,  bus- 
tling American  settlement,  thriving  but  ugly ;  he 
enters  upon  enchantment  here.  A  soft,  caressing 
air  woos  like  mild  breath  of   welcome  after  the 


lO  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

sharpness  of  a  northern  February  ;  linnets  sing 
dcKciously  to  the  morning ;  willow  withes  are 
turning  yellow  by  the  narrow  ditches  of  clear 
water.  Through  the  brown,  dusty  plains  stretch 
winding  lanes,  outlined  by  high  walls  of  dried 
mud,  behind  which  shine  the  rosy  glow  of  peach- 
blooms,  or  scarlet-tipped  hedges  of  cactus  spikes. 
Low,  flat-roofed,  adobe  houses  fit  into  the  blank 
wall,  relieved  occasionally  by  a  heavily  barred 
door,  or  stand  in  the  midst  of  bare,  dry  fields,  as 
cheerless  and  desolate  as  they.  On  each  side, 
shallow  streams,  brought  from  the  hills  or  from 
hidden  springs,  run  in  sluiceways  which  at  inter- 
vals cross  the  roadway.  Here  and  there  a  carpet 
of  delicate  green,  the  drooping  grace  of  a  plan- 
tation of  young  cottonwoods,  or  the  checkered 
squares  of  a  thriving  market  garden  show  where 
the  precious  water  has  been  freely  used ;  for 
here,  as  elsewhere,  the  most  barren  tract  blos- 
soms at  touch  of  moisture.  The  field  laborers  are 
usually  dressed  in  white  cotton,  fashioned  into 
short  trousers  and  sleeveless  shirts.  The  women 
move  shyly,  covered  to  the  eyes  in  the  long  blue 
scarf,  or  reboso,  which  is  part  of  the  national  cos- 
tume.    Half-naked  children,  with  dark  skins  and 


A   MOUNTED   CABALLERO  II 

glorious  eyes,  play  about  grated  door-yards,  which 
open  into  small  patios,  or  courtyards,  beyond, 
bright  sometimes  with  shrubs  and  flowers.  The 
men,  with  wide-rimmed  sombrero  and  gay  zarape, 
lounge  or  work  or  walk  about  with  a  grave,  dark- 
eyed  imperturbability  which  contrasts  strangely 
with  the  inquiring  vivacity  of  their  class  at  home. 
The  blank  white  walls  of  the  old  cathedral,  with 
its  broken  belfry  of  adobe,  rise  across  the  fields ; 
down  one  narrow  lane  comes  a  caravan  of  enor- 
mous covered  wagons,  each  drawn  by  sixteen 
mules  in  bright  trappings,  and  driven  by  swarth 
muleteers  in  costumes  that  seem  borrowed  from 
Carmen.  Around  another  corner  rdashes  a 
mounted  caballcro,  sitting  his  small  but  fiery 
horse  as  if  the  two  made  but  a  single  creature 
full  of  superb  motion.  The  man  wears  a  broad 
sombrero,  brilliant  with  silver  braid ;  his  short, 
loose  velvet  jacket  is  bright  with  rows  of  silver 
buttons,  as  are  also  the  wide  velvet  trousers 
which  lose  themselves  in  stirrups  of  fringed 
leather.  The  animal  is  resplendent  in  silver- 
mounted  harness,  with  embroidered  saddle  heavy 
with  inlaid  work ;  across  his  neck  is  thrown  a 
folded  blanket  of  scarlet  wool  ;    over  his  flanks 


12  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

falls  a  long  fleece  of  silky  black  fur.  And  the 
Centaur-like  grace  of  steed  and  rider  flashes 
before  one's  delighted  eyes,  to  disappear  as  mys- 
teriously again  behind  the  jealous  hedges. 

Under  a  mesquite-bush  by  the  wayside  one  may 
see  an  Indian  woman  scouring  a  tall  earthen  jar, 
preparatory  to  swinging  it,  fresh  filled  from  the 
well,  upon  her  shoulder  in  the  old  biblical  fash- 
ion ;  under  another,  a  couple  of  wrinkled  crones 
are  washing  clothes  in  a  shallow  ditch,  and  spread- 
ing the  wet  pieces  upon  the  cactus  plants  to  dry. 
Now  and  again  a  drowsy  little  tienda  shows  one 
or  two  unhurried  customers  at  its  narrow  counter; 
or  a  corner  cantine  has  its  inevitable  handful  of 
quiet  pulque-drinkers ;  or  a  silent  brown  group, 
their  glowing  eyes  alone  showing  trace  of  excite- 
ment, gathers  around  a  pair  of  fighting  cocks. 
The  sky  above  is  as  blue  as  Colorado ;  the  air 
is  pure  and  sweet,  with  the  softness  of  a  late  May 
day  ;  and  between  you  and  the  matter-of-fact, 
work-a-day  world  you  left  a  few  hours  ago,  are 
a  thousand  miles  of  distance  and  a  lifetime  of 
difference. 

Every  step  into  the  new  territory  to  the  south- 
ward  deepens   the    impression   which   this    first 


VIEWS    BY   THE   WAY  1 3 

glimpse  at  people  and  country  makes  upon  one. 
The  table-lands,  separated  by  long,  parallel  moun- 
tain chains,  now  approaching  and  now  receding, 
are  full  of  infinite  variety.  Aside  from  the  love- 
liness of  the  heights  themselves,  which,  rich  in 
mineral  dyes  and  exquisite  in  outline,  make  a 
fresh  beauty  for  eager  eyes  at  each  opening  of 
the  landscape,  a  hundred  forms  of  interest  and 
novelty  offer  a  constant  series  of  surprises.  It 
may  be  a  hacienda,  —  one  of  those  enormous  prop- 
erties covering  square  miles  of  country,  divided 
into  villages  and  hamlets,  rich  in  corrals  and 
sheepfolds,  watered  by  streams,  luxuriant  in  gar- 
dens and  fields  of  springing  wheat.  Across  the 
plains,  mounted  shepherds  drive  flocks  of  white 
silken-fleeced  goats  and  immense  droves  of  cattle ; 
long  lines  of  trees  follow  the  curves  of  the  water- 
courses ;  the  dome  of  a  church  rises  amid  the 
foliage ;  groups  of  burros  and  horses  follow  their 
Indian  keepers  through  the  fields  ;  and  the  mani- 
fold industries  belonging  to  a  great  and  rich 
estate  gather  about  the  central  courtyard,  with 
its  hollow  square  surrounded  by  massive  stone 
buildings.  Or  it  is  a  break  in  the  hills,  through 
which  one  looks  down  into  some  exquisite  valley, 


14  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

deep  with  purple  shadow,  faintly  luminous  with 
dreamy  light,  and  a  glint  of  water  shooting  like 
a  silver  arrow  through  the  pale  green  foliage. 
Or  it  is  a  silent  city  far  away  on  the  horizon,  its 
domes  and  towers  tinted  in  soft  shades  of  pink 
and  blue  and  warm  amber ;  its  tiled  roofs  flashing; 
its  low  gray  walls,  with  masses  of  drooping  trees 
behind,  barely  rising  from  the  white  level  of  the 
plain,  like  an  oasis  in  the  desert.  Or  it  is  a  forest 
of  cactus  stretching  for  miles  in  every  form  of 
contortion  known  to  this  reptile  of  the  vegetable 
world  ;  or  a  waste  of  Yucca  palms,  each  stem 
yJ  tipped  by  a  Hercules  club,  four  feet  in  height,  of 
waxen  lilies  ;  or  a  plain  of  unfamiliar  flowers, 
gorgeous  but  scentless,  stretching  like  a  Persian 
rug  to  the  base  of  the  wonderful  heights  beyond. 
Always  a  sudden  change,  and  each  change  as 
splendid  as  the  one  before  which  seemed 
perfection. 

With  unceasing  difference  of  detail  in  color 
and  outline,  but  the  same  general  peculiarities, 
these  scenes  repeat  themselves,  until  the  approach 
to  Chihuahua  across  the  wide  plain  brings  us  near 
the  first  distinctively  Mexican  city.  It  lies  below 
the  deep  purple  mountains  in  the  distance  ;   the 


TOUCHES   OF   THE   ORIENT  1 5 

two  tall  campanile  of  the  cathedral  dominating 
the  landscape,  and  the  low,  flat-roofed  houses 
lying  upon  the  terra-cotta  surface  of  the  valley 
with  a  most  Oriental  effect.  Indeed,  every  thing 
about  the  spot  is  distinctly  Eastern.  Across  the 
plain,  as  one  rides  from  the  station  to  the  town, 
the  scrapes  of  the  horsemen  recall  the  burnous  of 
the  Arab.  So  does  the  magnificent  horsemanship, 
as  the  riders  fly  over  the  open  country.  Inside 
the  city  streets,  long  colonnades  of  rude  Moorish 
arches  outside  the  houses,  offer  grateful  shelter 
from  the  mid-day  sun  ;  the  outer  walls  are  fres- 
coed in  bright  blue,  yellow,  or  red  ;  there  is  a 
mosque-life  effect  about  the  great  central  domes 
of  the  churches.  Broad  stone  seats  with  high 
backs,  like  those  in  Alma-Tadema's  pictures,  line 
the  principal  streets  under  soft  shadows  of  fan- 
like trees  ;  clumps  of  Mexican  aloe  and  prickly 
cactus  hedge  the  roadways.  There  is  a  barbaric 
richness  of  ornamentation  about  the  fagade  of 
the  principal  church,  carved  in  solid  stone  by 
native  artists  from  native  designs ;  but  it  loses 
somewhat,  upon  closer  inspection,  from  its  crude 
conception  of  art.  It  is,  however,  greatly  superior 
to  the  more  tawdry  and  more  insincere  decora- 


l6  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

tion  of  machine-turned  woods,  to  which  we  are 
unfortunately  too  well  used  in  church  architecture 
at  home.  From  the  fiat  roof,  a  beautiful  prospect 
opens  on  all  sides,  A  fine  row  of  gray  stone 
arches  marks  the  path  of  the  aqueduct  built  more 
than  two  hundred  years  ago  to  convey  water  from 
the  mountains  beyond.  A  bird's-eye  view  into 
the  inner  portion  of  the  adobe  houses  near  gave 
an  added  touch  of  strange  interest  to  the  scenes. 
A  courtyard  almost  immediately  below  had  a  tiled 
floor,  surrounding  a  garden  bright  with  peach- 
bloom  and  century  plants.  Two  shaggy  burros 
and  a  group  of  picturesque  children  played  in  and 
out  among  the  heavy  stone  arches  of  the  open 
gallery  leading  to  the  rooms  of  the  house,  which 
were  lightened  by  vivid  frescos  of  brilliant  white 
and  blue.  One  or  two  shadowy  forms  lounged 
against  the  pillars  of  the  wall ;  a  woman's  voice 
came  singing  from  the  rooms  beyond ;  and  a  flock 
of  gray  doves  rose  and  fell  like  a  soft  cloud  above 
the  flat  roof.  Outside,  down  the  long  cottonwood- 
fringed  street,  three  horsemen,  one  all  in  white, 
one  draped  in  deep  red,  and  a  third  with  flying 
parti-colored  sashes,  shone  like  blotches  of  color 
against  the  pale  sky. 


A   GREAT   HACIENDA  1/ 

On  the  route  between  Chihuahua  and  the  Plains 
of  Zacatecas,  the  beautiful  mountains  continue, 
now  nearing  and  now  departing  from  the  table- 
like valley  between.  An  entire  tract  of  country 
at  one  place  is  covered  thickly  with  pale  purple 
blossoms  exhaling  a  faint,  sweet  odor.  The  great 
haciendas,  lying  near  the  route,  have  portions  of 
their  ranches  near  the  line.  It  may  not  be  under- 
stood, so  it  is  well  to  explain  here,  that  a  hacienda 
is  the  large  estate  of  which  numerous  ranches 
form  part.  The  owner  is  supposed  to  exercise  a 
kindly  care  over  all  his  assistants  and  dependants  ; 
churches  and  schools  are  provided  within  the 
limits  ;  in  many  cases  a  hospital  is  conducted  for 
the  health  and  comfort  of  the  laborers,  and  a 
somewhat  patriarchal  system  obtains.  The  peon, 
or  laborer,  cannot  leave  one  hacienda  for  another 
without  the  consent  of  his  master,  and  the  pledg- 
ing of  some  portion  —  usually  a  quarter  —  of  his 
wages,  until  his  obligation  is  paid.  It  is  a  rem- 
nant of  an  old  system  of  bondage,  and  will  prob- 
ably give  way  to  progress  and  time.  Some  of 
these  haciendas  are  of  immense  size ;  one  was 
pointed  out  enclosing  two  hundred  and  forty 
square  miles. 


l8  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Across  the  low,  green,  rolling  foothills  the  moun- 
tains still  keep  their  dusky  heights  stained  with 
mineral  dyes  ;  mines  rich  in  copper,  iron,  and  silver 
honeycomb  the  entire  country  ;  fine,  fertile  valleys 
fill  every  atom  of  space  that  has  the  blessed  luxury 
of  water;  and  even  this  is  being  brought  exten- 
sively at  present,  through  the  medium  of  artesian 
wells  and  springs,  from  the  hills.  When  one 
remembers  the  ditches  and  flumes  extending 
thirty  and  forty  miles  in  the  California  districts, 
it  seems  an  easy  matter  to  convey  it  here,  from  so 
much  nearer  sources. 

At  one  or  two  points,  the  train  stopped  to  let  us 
load  the  cars  with  flowers.  A  tall  cluster  of  bare 
rods,  each  tipped  with  a  vivid  scarlet  blossom, 
fine  white  and  purple  bells  that  were  found  at 
the  root  of  mesquite  bushes,  bright  little  yellow 
cups  like  small  jasmine  buds,  and  quantities  of 
delicate  green  soon  made  our  rooms  like  a  travel- 
ling greenhouse,  and  we  revelled  in  bloom  and 
insects  until  we  tired  of  both.  Soon  after  leaving 
San  Juan  de  Gaudeloupe,  flat,  table-topped  moun- 
tains began  to  make  a  change  in  the  landscape. 
They  looked  not  unlike  the  old  Aztec  Teocalli, 
^nd   might,    perliaps,   have   served   the    sun  wor- 


ON   AN   UP-GRADE  I9 

shippers  with  the  idea  of  their  temples.  Lofty, 
terraced  sides  and  level  summits  extended  far 
enough  to  allow  room  for  the  imposing  ceremonial 
of  their  worship. 

Sometimes  for  hours,  fields  green  with  spring- 
ing corn,  or  the  soft  verdure  of  young  wheat, 
lined  each  side  of  the  road  ;  sometimes  a  herd  of 
sheep  gathered  about  the  rare  water-courses,  or 
were  grouped  under  great  roofs  of  thatch,  held 
up  by  forked  poles  without  any  side  coverings. 

Nine  miles  below  the  city  of  Zacatecas,  the 
railroad  begins  to  rise,  by  a  triumph  of  magnifi- 
cent engineering,  up  a  grade  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  feet  to  the  mile,  making  on  the  pas- 
sage some  of  the  most  abrupt  curves  conceivable. 
It  recalled  the  old  Colorado  canons,  only  that 
here  we  went  around  the  hillside  instead  of 
plunging  over  precipices  and  bridging  gorges  with 
trestles.  The  powerful  engine  panted  like  some 
hard-pressed  animal,  and  the  train  of  heavy  cars 
dragged  wearily  up  after  it.  We  forgot  fatigue, 
forgot  fear,  forgot  —  what  is  harder  to  forget 
than  either  —  supper,  and  crowded  the  narrow 
platforms  with  an  excitement  almost  painful.  At 
last,  with  one  mighty,  final  effort,  we  turned  the 


20  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

last  sharp  mountain  spur,  and  with  the  Biifa 
rising  high  on  the  left,  its  enormous  crest  of  rock 
above  like  the  dorsal  fin  of  some  fossil  monster, 
with  a  glow  of  red  gold  over  all  the  western  sky, 
and  the  evening  star  shining  palely  in  the  east, 
we  rested  on  the  crest  of  the  hill  above  the  dark, 
little,  sleeping  town,  with  only  three  faint  points  of 
light  to  indicate  its  location  or  give  any  sign  of  life. 

When  we  passed  next  morning  down  the  steep 
slope  into  the  city,  a  long  line  of  convicts,  under 
direction  of  an  armed  guard,  were  carrying  earth 
upon  their  backs,  in  bags,  up  the  side  of  a  long 
embankment,  and  into  a  fortified  place  above, 
which  was  being  repaired.  Grouped  about,  and 
giving  the  grave  attention  of  idle  people  to  each 
detail,  were  a  number  of  Mexican  men,  women, 
and  children,  picturesque  in  rags  and  brilliant 
scarfs.  In  recognition  of  a  bow  in  passing,  the 
convicts  lifted  their  hats  and  showed  so  many  sets 
of  white  teeth  and  gleaming  eyes  ;  such  a  careless, 
easy-going  set  of  criminals  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  elsewhere. 

The  narrow  streets  were  well  paved,  wonder- 
fully clean,  and  furnished  on  one  side  with  raised 
pavements ;    open    archways    looked    into    little 


AT   THE   FOUNTAIN  21 

courtyards  glowing  with  sunshine  and  flowers  ; 
cobblers,  tinkers,  tailors,  and  jewellers  sat  at 
work  on  raised  stone  platforms  outside  their 
houses ;  and  in  the  central  one  of  the  many- 
market-places,  around  the  great  circular  stone 
fountain,  a  mass  of  women,  girls,  and  boys 
dipped  the  water  into  great  red  earthen  jars,  in 
little  gourd-shaped  cups  with  handles  like  ladles. 
Of  all  the  many  strange  sights  so  far  met,  this 
was  by  far  the  strangest.  Each  one,  as  her 
laborious  work  ended,  lifted  herself  for  a  moment 
to  straighten  the  cramped  muscles,  and  then  with 
marvellous  ease,  for  what  must  have  been  a  real 
effort  of  strength,  swung  the  tall  jar  to  its  place 
on  the  left  shoulder,  held  it  in  position  with  the 
bare  right  arm,  and  walked  off  with  as  much  ease 
as  a  ball-room  belle  in  the  mazes  of  a  country 
dance.  The  clamor,  the  crowd,  the  utter  absorp- 
tion of  each  one  in  her  own  work,  and  the 
strange  impression  of  life  it  left  upon  us,  it  was 
impossible  to  describe.  Whether  the  knot  of 
lounging  youths  was  made  up  of  so  many  Jacobs 
waiting  for  these  Rachels  at  the  well,  was  another 
question.  They  showed  the  true  Eastern  imper- 
turbability, while  the  women  did  the  work. 


22  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Down  a  steep  side  street  —  every  street  climbs 
up  or  runs  down  a  hill  —  to  the  beautiful  old 
church  with  its  monstrous  facade  of  carved  free- 
stone and  three  unique  spires,  and  the  covered 
market  with  its  double  rows  of  open  Moorish 
arches,  we  passed  with  new  delight  at  every  step. 
Every  thing  is  glowing  with  color  —  the  sky  deep 
as  Italy,  the  frescos,  the  flowers,  the  fine  ash- 
trees,  the  brightly  dressed  people,  the  broad  white 
stone  seats.  The  inner  court  of  the  governor's 
palace — patio  is  a  prettier  word,  so  we  will  use 
it  hereafter  —  was  finished  with  dado  and  frieze 
of  blue  and  yellow  ;  the  slender  pillars,  rising  in  a 
double  flight  of  columns  between  the  arches  of  the 
first  and  second  floors,  were  gay  with  stencilled 
wreaths  of  bright  flowers ;  the  broad  gray  stone 
steps,  curving  in  wide  sweeps  to  the  upper  gal- 
leries, were  dressed  with  fanciful  large  pots  full 
of  tropical  plants.  From  a  corner  of  one  of  these 
shaded  upper  galleries,  a  most  beautiful  picture 
was  made  by  the  three  red  sandstone  towers  of 
the  cathedral,  —  one  with  the  round,  flat  dome 
of  the  mosque,  one  a  slender  campanile,  and  one 
a  solid  square,  but  each  a  mass  of  most  wonderful 
stone  carving,  almost  barbaric  in  splendor,   and 


A   MEXICAN   DINx^ER  23 

still  kept  within  the  bounds  of  harmony.     Against 
the  glowing  depth  of  sapphire  sky,  it  was  superb. 

In  and  out,  up  and  down,  there  was  no  end  of 
novelty.  One  market-place  was  devoted  entirely  . 
to  the  coarse  potteries  of  the  place,  —  jars  for 
water  and  cooking,  table  articles  and  kitchen 
utensils,  all  good  in  shape,  with  an  excellent  glaze, 
and  some  attempt  at  decoration.  Their  fire-proof 
qualities  were  tested  by  hundreds  of  small  fires 
of  mesquitc  and  cedar,  which  kept  them  bubbling 
here  and  there  with  boiling  soup  and  vegetables. 
At  the  Zacatecano  Hotel,  for  dinner,  we  had  our 
first  experience  of  real  Mexican  cookery.  A  very 
good  onion  soup  was  succeeded  in  regular  courses 
by  steak  dressed  with  mint ;  a  good  omelet ;  rice, 
prepared  with  curry,  tomatoes  and  garlic  ;  chicken, 
in  a  sort  of  fricassee  ;  cold  tongue,  with  a  dressing 
of  lettuce  and  eggs;  cauliflower;  sweet  custards; 
and  good  but  bitter  coffee. 

We  entered  this  country  so  incased  in  barbed 
points  of  prejudice  that  we  are,  like  hedgehogs, 
bristling  all  over,  and  ready  to  prick  against 
every  thing.  We  have  found  the  people  courteous 
beyond  expression.  The  poorest  laborer  as 
gracefully  lifts  his  hat  as  the  high-bred  gentle- 


24  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

man ;  and  the  kindliness  of  unassuming  hospital- 
ity opens  every  house,  rich  and  poor,  to  the 
visitor.  It  is  amusing  to  think  what  scant  polite- 
ness a  company  of  strange  tourists,  curious, 
eager,  and  almost  impertinent,  would  receive  in 
Boston  and  New  York.  And  still,  with  all  our 
good-breeding,  it  is  so  hard  to  keep  New-England 
noses  from  curving  superciliously  at  the  degraded 
Mejicano.     Are  we  beyond  taking  a  lesson  .-* 

There  are  a  good  many  that  we  might  take, 
without  hurting  ourselves.  There  is  the  good, 
honest  building,  without  sham  or  pretence,  which 
looks  as  if  it  were  made  for  eternity.  There 
is  the  power  of  restfulness  and  leisure,  which, 
though  unhappily  a  crying  evil  here,  would  be 
one  of  the  cardinal  virtues  if  we  could  only 
ingraft  it  on  our  stubborn,  rushing,  uneasy  ner- 
vousness. There  is  their  way  of  holding  the 
dear,  dark  little  babies,  with  a  long  fold  of  the 
nurse's  rebozo,  or  scarf,  wound  around  the  little 
creature  from  mouth  to  hips,  supporting  the  back 
and  neck  well,  and  throwing  the  child's  weight 
on  the  bearer's  shoulder  instead  of  her  arms  and 
hips.  And  there  are  the  exquisitely  clean  streets, 
which   would    make    us   blush   hot   with    shame, 


TIIF.   LUXURY   OF   TRAVEL  2$ 

remembering  the  filth  of  Chicago  and  New  York, 
if  our  sallow  Eastern  skins  could  ever  show  so 
beneficent  a  change  of  color. 

The  plan  of  spending  our  days  visiting  or  sight- 
seeing, passing  to  the  next  important  point  in 
the  cool  of  the  evening,  and  resting  luxuriously 
for  the  night  drawn  up  on  some  quiet  side- 
track, works  wonderfully  well.  There  is  some- 
thing gorgeous  in  the  idea  of  a  special  train,  that 
moves  when  one  pleases  and  rests  when  one  de- 
sires ;  that  goes  on  like  an  obedient  carriage- 
horse,  stopping  here  to  let  you  pick  flowers,  and 
there  for  fear  of  disturbing  your  after-dinner 
coffee  ;  that  meets  you  with  welcome,  homelike 
face  after  each  new  pilgrimage  into  the  strange, 
unknown  country  ;  that  offers  you  plenty  of  plump 
pillows  and  soft  cushions  to  poultice  the  bruises 
of  fatigue.  It  is  a  little  nest  of  such  comfort 
and  luxury  as  these  Mexican  cities,  enchanting  as 
they  are  as  studies  and  full  of  brilliant  novelty, 
have  not  as  yet  the  slightest  conception.  To  come 
back  from  a  tiresome  and  exciting  ride  in  quest  of 
pleasure  or  information ;  to  find  your  quarters 
swept  and  garnished;  your  neighbors  in  their 
customary  places ;  the  judge's  pretty  wards  at  their 


26  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

knitting  or  crochet ;  the  blonde-haired  Vassar  girl 
sharpening  her  clever  pencil ;  and  Peter,  your  man- 
of-all-work,  waiting  with  smiling  welcome  and  a 
helping  hand  at  the  door,  —  is  to  know  something 
still  of  home  feeling  in  the  midst  of  strangeness, 
and  to  thank  Heaven  silently,  but  emphatically, 
for  the  Pullman.  Ice-water  in  the  tank,  and  your 
slippers  on  your  feet ;  your  books  on  the  table,  and 
a  good  bright  light  under  which  to  read  them, 
— these  look  like  trifles  to  you,  O  easy-going 
devourers  of  the  corpulent  good  things  of  beloved 
Boston,  but  wait  till  they  come  to  you  in  Mejico  ! 


WARM   BATHS  2/ 


CHAPTER   II 

GLIMPSES    OF    A    NEW    WORLD 

Under  a  long  avenue  of  superb  cottonwoods, 
the  largest  we  have  yet  seen  in  the  country,  the 
warm  waters  which  give  Aguas  Calicntcs  its 
name  flow  through  a  series  of  really  fine  baths, 
well  built  of  a  soft  red  stone,  and  out  again  into 
wide  ditches  in  which  the  common  people  wash 
themselves  and  their  family  linen.  Irreverent 
members  of  the  party  affected  to  believe  that  this 
order  was  reversed  ;  but  I  do  not  credit  it,  and  so 
my  readers  need  not.  A  better  class,  or  a  larger 
number  of  a  better  class,  than  we  had  found  in  any 
town  before,  made  the  streets  interesting.  The 
moment  the  people  are  lifted  into  the  dignity  of 
self-support,  that  moment  they  become  joyous 
and  hopeful.  We  saw  new  birds  in  the  trees  of 
the  plaza  ;  a  species  of  large  black  crow,  with  a 
short  but  pleasant  song.  The  frescos  of  the 
houses   were    more    elaborate    and    brilliant,    the 


28  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

fountains  better  supplied,  the  squares  enclosed  in 
fine  stone  balustrades,  and  the  stone  seats  softly 
tinted.  Chance,  or  perhaps  some  longing  mem- 
ory of  the  family  doctor  at  home,  led  us  into  a 
doctor's  office  here.  Imagine  a  small  door  set  in 
a  large  carved  gateway  leading  through  a  stone 
archway  into  a  broad,  sunny  patio.  Under  an 
arch  at  the  right,  a  pair  of  fine  horses  champing 
in  their  cool  stone  stalls ;  under  an  arch  at  the 
left,  some  pet  birds,  a  couple  of  tame  ducks,  a 
green  and  gold  parrot  on  the  wall,  a  silver-trimmed 
saddle  with  sharp  spurs,  and  a  gay  riding-blanket 
hanging  beneath  it ;  through  an  open  door,  the 
clean  stone  kitchen  ;  through  another,  a  stone  bed- 
room with  fresh,  clean  beds  ;  through  a  third,  the 
office, —  stone,  too,  like  the  others,  —  and  all  open- 
ing on  the  warm,  silent  courtyard.  The  room 
was  cool  and  dusky,  tiled,  as  were  the  rest ;  there 
were  bamboo  chairs  and  lounge,  a  professional- 
looking  desk,  a  small  pharmacy  at  one  end,  a  table 
covered  with  the  wonderful  feather-work  for  which 
the  town  is  noted,  in  the  centre,  and  a  few  en- 
gravings on  the  wall.  The  shuttered  and  grated 
window  was  closed  ;  light  and  air  came  through 
the  great  inner  door,  w^hich  stood  always  open. 


A   DREAM   OF   REST  29 

A  feeling  of  repose  and  coolness,  in  delicious 
contrast  to  tlic  dusty,  glaring,  adobe-lined  streets 
outside,  stole  pleasantly  through  our  travel-worn 
senses ;  and  one  remembered  with  new  pleasure 
the  sentiment  of  Longfellow  in  his  lines  to  Mad 
River,  — 

"  Do  you  not  know  that  what  is  best 
In  all  this  restless  world  is  rest 
From  turmoil  and  from  worry  ?  " 

Before  the  Governor's  Palace  a  brace  of  trum- 
peters ushered  noon  in  with  a  blare  of  silver 
bugles;  in  the  market-place  the  fruit-venders  were 
selling  baskets  of  Indian  straw  with  a  hundred 
oranges  for  seventy-five  cents,  and  tropical  fruits 
of  every  description  from  the  agricultural  districts 
on  the  other  side  of  the  hills.  The  air  was  hot, 
but  pleasant,  always  delightful  in  the  shade  ;  and 
between  the  months  of  November  and  April  the 
changes  in  temperature  had  been  only  fifteen  to 
seventeen  degrees.  If  a  stirring,  competent 
Northern  company  should  take  it  into  their  heads 
to  build  a  good  hotel,  and  utilize  the  mineral 
waters  and  superb  climate,  there  is  no  reason  why 
Aguas  Calientes  should  not  become  one  of  the 


30  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

great  health  resorts  of  the  world.  It  only  needs 
enterprise  and  steadfastness, — two  qualities  not 
uncommon  in  the  East  or  West  of  our  own 
country. 

Leon,  a  city  of  seventy-five  thousand  or  a  hun- 
dred thousand  people,  better  supplied  with  water 
from  the  numerous  wells,  and  therefore  more 
beautiful  with  trees  and  shade,  is  extremely 
interesting,  as  showing  the  immense  stride  which 
steady  employment  of  any  form  enables  the  people 
to  make.  Almost  every  house  has  its  hand-loom, 
worked  as  in  the  old  scriptural  times,  —  heavy, 
cumbrous,  and  slow,  but  capable  of  producing 
wonderfully  good  results.  One  part  of  the  city  is 
given  to  the  manufacture  of  zarapes,  the  other  to 
that  of  rebosos.  As  nine-tenths  of  the  population 
wear  one  or  the  other,  the  industry  is  well  estab- 
lished. Although  one  sees  telegraph-wires  and 
telephones,  sewing-machines  and  street-cars,  even 
gas  and  electric  lights,  the  people  still  cling  to 
the  old-fashioned  methods  of  hand-work.  How  the 
amount  of  time  and  labor  represented  can  be  af- 
forded for  the  small  amount  asked  for  the  wares, 
is  hard  to  understand.  We  found  here,  also,  some 
good  forms  of  pottery  in  the  market-place.     The 


STREET   SCENES  3 1 

beautiful  Calzado — a  triple  avenue  of  magnificent 
trees,  floored  with  broad  red  flagstones,  and  lined 
with  low  hedges  of  orange-trees  in  fruit  and 
blossom — was  a  delightful  promenade.  Figs, 
pomegranates,  and  oleanders,  of  larger  size  than 
those  even  of  California,  made  every  inch  of 
ground  beautiful,  and  the  warm  air  was  sweet 
with  fragrance. 

In  the  streets  here  we  began  to  see  the  mantilla, 
—  the  graceful  black  scarf,  either  of  lace  or  fine 
wool,  which  is  pinned  over  the  hair  and  allowed 
to  fall  loosely  above  the  shoulders.  The  women 
of  all  grades  have  an  erect  and  graceful  carriage. 
The  dress  for  the  street  among  the  better  classes 
is  almost  uniformly  black ;  the  Indian  women 
wear  any  and  every  thing,  but  usually  an  em- 
broidered white  chemise  and  colored  cotton  skirt, 
surmounted  by  the  inevitable  blue  reboso.  The 
large  market-place,  with  its  collection  of  cool 
arches,  and  great  splashing  fountains  in  the  centre, 
is  always  an  attraction.  Green  pease,  fresh  fruits, 
young  beets,  small  tomatoes,  and  potatoes  the  size 
of  marbles,  were  spread  about  in  what  seemed  to 
us  interminable  confusion,  but  which  no  doubt  had 
a  method  of  its  own.     We  could  forgive  much  to  a 


32  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

place  where  we  could  buy  roses  in  bunches  as  large 
as  one's  head  for  six-and-a-quarter  cents. 

The  plazas  were  gorgeous  with  flowers,  and  on 
one  side  street  we  found  a  theatre  which  read  us 
a  moral  lesson,  —  a  fine  edifice  of  stone,  with  a 
great  open  vestibule  sixty  feet  square  as  entrance, 
filled  with  flower-beds,  a  fountain  in  the  centre, 
and  domed  with  glass,  into  which  opened  the 
wide  galleries  by  four  separate  flights  of  broad 
stone  steps.  Behind  every  group  of  eight  seats 
a  latticed  door  gave  egress  to  the  gallery  on  each 
of  the  four  stories,  so  that  no  possible  panic  could 
produce  more  than  a  momentary  result. 

Beyond  Leon,  the  mountains,  which  for  some 
fifty  miles  had  been  receding,  begin  to  advance 
again  abruptly.  Beautiful  with  dusky  lights  and 
purple  shadows,  rising  majestically  into  the  pure, 
deep  sky,  with  fertile  plains  under  high  cultivation, 
and  groves  of  magnificent  trees,  the  country  has 
all  the  elements  of  great  loveliness  in  its  every- 
day aspect.  Soon  the  hills  fall  away  again,  the 
perfectly  flat  fields  return,  and  the  track  begins  to 
wind  about  the  steeply  climbing  grade  which  leads 
to  Silao.  The  organ  cactus,  a  kind  of  green  New- 
England  fence-paling  continued  upwards  to  a  height 


A  SPANISH  MINING-TOWN  33 

of  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  becomes  more  and  more 
common,  making  almost  the  only  division  between 
the  small  fields  of  the  natives  ;  another  cactus, 
tree-shaped  and  brutally  ugly,  begins  to  appear 
in  groves,  very  repulsive,  and  with  leprous-looking 
bulbs  of  pale  blossoms  on  the  ends  of  the  spiked, 
fleshy  leaves.  Along  the  sides  of  the  narrow-gauge 
road  leading  from  the  main  line  to  Marfil,  whence 
tram-cars  lead  to  Guanajuata,  mines  begin  to  dot 
the  mountain-sides,  and  the  quiet  hurry  of  a 
Mexican  business  district  creeps  into  the  scene. 
The  roads  become  alive  with  herds  of  burros 
laden  with  every  product  of  tropic  or  temperate 
zone,  and  shambling  solemnly,  earnestly,  lop- 
earedly,  toward  the  distant  market  town. 

Quaintest  spot  and  most  delightful  in  the  wide 
world!  The  little  city  of  Guanajuato  —  may  its 
name  be  written  in  letters  of  gold !  —  has  suc- 
ceeded in  charming  away  the  small  remnant  of 
common-sense  which  Mexico  has  left  us.  Squalor 
and  poverty,  open  sewers  and  the  highest  death- 
rate  on  the  continent,  were  powerless  to  dim 
its  delightsomcncss.  A  walled  city  among  the 
mountains,  a  fortified  j^lace  set  upon  the  side  of 
heights  so  steep  that  the  houses  seem  to  be  fas- 


34  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

tencd  to  the  rock  rather  than  resting  on  it,  and 
that  a  misstep  on  the  dizzy  uppermost  level  of  the 
narrow,  high-pitched  streets  would  precipitate  the 
unlucky  one  into  the  midst  of  some  plaza  three 
or  four  hundred  feet  below.  A  lovely,  bewildering 
spot,  full  of  lanes  and  archways,  and  winding, 
twisted  market-places ;  with  a  rabble  of  pictur- 
esque people,  selling  every  oddity  under  the  sun, 
and  a  screen  of  matting ;  with  a  crossing  and 
interlacing  of  narrow,  paved  ways,  which  give  at 
every  ten  steps  the  effect  of  a  kaleidoscope,  with 
a  vista  of  infinite  beauty  and  novelty  at  each 
turning.  The  upper  balconies  of  the  many  really 
beautiful  houses  were  gay  with  bright  awnings 
and  marvellous  flowers ;  the  old  church  of  the 
Jesuits  was  magnificent  in  fine  arches  of  soft, 
pink  stone,  and  wonderful  carvings  fine  as  strips 
of  lace-work ;  the  overhanging  hills  toppled 
against  the  deep  blue  sky  wherever  one  turned, 
and  through  a  hundred  different  arches,  some 
vision  of  softly  frescoed,  slender-pillared  inner 
courts,  bright  with  blossoms  and  fresh  with 
greenery,  flashed  out,  no  matter  how  swiftly  one 
passed.  From  the  flat  roof  of  the  castle  or 
citadel,  where  long  ago  the  beloved  head  of  the 


A   riRD'S-EYF.   VIKW  35 

patriot  Hidalgo  was  pcrclicd,  ghastly  and  gory,  on 
the  scene  of  his  first  triumph,  a  most  exquisite 
view  of  the  city  was  to  be  had.  The  celebrated 
reduction  works  of  the  fifty  mines,  which  have 
made  the  place  rich  as  well  as  beautiful, — great 
massive,  fortress-like  structures  of  gray  stone, 
perched  here  and  there,  far  up  the  mountain-sides, 
with  masses  of  buttresses  and  arches  and  loop- 
holed,  stern  walls, — filled  the  background  of  each 
picture,  look  which  way  one  would.  Underneath, 
and  around,  and  above,  —  for,  high  as  it  was,  the 
climbing  city  climbed  higher  still,  —  the  fine  net- 
work of  paved  streets  ran  between  softly  colored 
masses  of  buildings,  some  like  pale  green  mala- 
chite, some  of  delicate  pink,  some  of  deep  red 
sandstone,  some  of  creamy  white.  The  amphi- 
theatre of  the  bull-ring  was  just  beneath  us  ;  a 
large  pottery,  where  immense  piles  of  red  glazed 
ware  caught  the  sun's  rays  like  so  many  mounds 
of  rubies,  was  next ;  the  small  flower  -  decked 
plazas  shone  like  emeralds.  It  was  a  collection 
of  precious  things. 

Down  in  the  busy  streets,  for  it  was  market- 
day,  a  surging  crowd  of  men,  women,  burros,  and 
mules   jostled    each    other    in    ceaseless   motion. 


36  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Such  a  mixture  of  commodities  running  through 
every  class  of  merchandise,  such  a  strange  group- 
ing of  effects,  such  mingling  of  sharp  cries  and 
liquid  voices  and  strange  noises,  with  the  chant 
of  the  young  boys  singing  in  the  prison  chapel 
above  all,  and  the  deep,  wonderful  sky  looking 
down  to  listen  !  While  we  were  in  the  plaza,  a 
beautiful  flight  of  birds,  a  thousand  swift-winged 
atoms,  with  a  dash  of  warm  red  on  the  dark 
breasts,  wheeled  and  dipped  and  rose  through 
the  clear  air  with  a  rhythm  of  motion  that  set  the 
scene  to  music,  and  so  I  desire  to  remember  it. 

Into  this  ravishing  sjiot  we  were  whirled  with- 
out any  more  warning  than  the  corners  of  a 
few  sharp  mountains  spurs  could  give  us;  by  one 
of  the  fiery  little  mule  tram-cars,  that  tore  at  a 
swinging  gallop  up  four  miles  of  steep  hillside, 
around  curves  as  sharp  as  a  thin  woman's  elbow, 
with  a  swarthy  conductor  blowing  his  horn  like 
a  bronze  Triton  on  the  front  platform.  It  was 
partly  its  unexpectedness  that  charmed,  and  we 
forgive  even  the  smells  of  its  carceleria  for  the 
delight  it  brought  us. 

Still  the  East  and  always  the  East !  The  mar- 
vellous resemblance  between  this    tropical  world 


ORIENTAL   EFFECTS  37 

and  the  Orient  is  a  constantly  new  surprise.  The 
sandalled  feet,  the  white  garments,  the  bright 
wrappings,  the  public  fountains,  the  walled  streets 
and  roads,  the  low,  flat  houses,  the  stone  balco- 
nies, the  deep  sky,  the  dark,  grave,  silent  people ! 
Yesterday,  at  the  hotel  of  Zacetano,  the  landlady 
under  the  upper  arches  of  the  inner  court  clapped 
her  hands  thrice,  and  a  dark-eyed  viiicJiacJio  came 
noiselessly  to  her  side,  received  her  message,  and 
sped  away  again  through  the  shadows  as  silently 
as  if  he  were  a  shadow  himself.  For  the  outer 
world  and  the  street,  there  is  the  blank  wall,  the 
grated  window,  the  bolted  door;  inside,  for  the 
household,  the  sunny  courtyard  gay  with  fountains 
and  flowers,  the  large  open  arches  throwing  grate- 
ful shadows  over  vast,  cool  rooms,  the  cordial 
family  life  with  its  treasures  hidden  from  the 
prying  eyes  of  the  multitude.  Street-criers  calling 
their  wares ;  fruit-sellers  with  great  trays  of  lus- 
cious unknown  sweetness  upon  their  heads  ;  water- 
carriers  with  earthen  jars  slung  across  the  backs 
of  shaggy  donkeys  ;  the  strange,  soft,  liquid  tones 
of  a  foreign  language,  —  is  it  all  near  our  own 
land  and  our  own  people  .•'  Is  it  not  Damascus 
or    Syria,    or    Constantinople,    with    the    muezzin 


38  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

ready  to  call  to  prayer  from  the  gallery  of  the 
mosque,  and  the  wandering  venders  crying  through 
the  narrow  lanes,  "  First  blush  of  the  hillsides,  oh, 
strawberries  ! "  Out  on  the  Jiacicndas  the  labor- 
ers draw  water  from  shallow  wells  by  means  of  a 
long  pole  balanced  across  two  high-forked  sticks, 
and  furnished  with  a  bucket  at  one  end.  Poured 
into  the  narrow  furrows  which  divide  all  the  land 
into  garden-beds,  the  water  flows  at  will  wherever 
irrigation  is  required.  The  farmer  ploughs  with 
a  primitive  implement  that  is  little  more  than  a 
sharply  pointed  stick,  fastened  to  the  horns  of 
his  oxen  by  an  equally  primitive  arrangement 
of  ropes.  The  great  lumbering  wagons,  whether 
made  of  wood  or  of  closely  joined  stems  of  cactus, 
roll  on  solid,  cumbrous  wheels  made  from  a  single 
round  of  a  tree-trunk,  and  fashioned  into  shape 
by  hard  labor.  The  bronze-skinned,  bare-legged 
beggar  dozing  against  some  crumbling  corner  of 
a  white  adobe  wall ;  the  mule-teams  with  jingling 
bells,  clattering  harness,  and  shouting  driver  ;  the 
horsemen  dashing  across  the  glaring  plains, 
swarth  and  picturesque  in  their  brilliant  riding- 
scarfs, —  what  is  there  to  remind  us  of  the  staid, 
sober  American  life,  as  ugly  as  it  is  comfortable  .'* 


AN   INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOL  39 

It  is  all  Oriental,  even  to  the  barking  dogs  that 
howl  through  the  dark  streets  by  night  to  quicken 
the  footsteps  of  the  wayfarer. 

Now  and  again,  amid  this  bewilderment  of 
romantic  effects,  some  fine  example  of  practical 
prosperity  is  found,  as  in  the  Industrial  School  of 
Guadelupe,  a  suburb  of  Zacatecas.  This  institu- 
tion was  designed  for  the  training  of  orphan  boys, 
and  is  supplied  with  the  means  necessary  for  turn- 
ing out  finished  workmen  in  any  one  of  sixteen 
different  trades.  The  two  hundred  and  seventy 
pupils  are  given  a  good  common-school  education, 
together  with  practical  instruction  which  places 
the  means  of  livelihood  in  their  hands  from  the 
moment  of  leaving  school.  Masons,  bootmakers, 
tailors,  printers,  farmers,  carpenters,  telegraph 
operators,  were  being  here  prepared  for  active 
life,  under  care  of  the  Government ;  a  primary 
department,  a  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and 
a  general  training  in  music,  also  entered  into  the 
programme  of  the  institution ;  and  the  plan  as  a 
whole  was  in  such  successful  and  happy  opera- 
tion, as  made  it  the  most  satisfactory  proof  of 
promise  for  the  future  we  had  yet  met  in  Mexico. 
The  children's  faces  were  bright  and  animated  : 


40  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

employment  invariably  lifts  the  people  out  of  the 
sad  and  resigned  aspect  which  otherwise  seems 
habitual  to  them.  Indeed,  a  very  short  time  in 
the  country  is  sufficient  to  convince  one  of  the 
falsity  of  American  views  regarding  it.  We  have 
heard  of  the  people  as  lazy,  which  is  an  absolute 
mistake.  They  are  often  idle  from  want  of 
occupation ;  but  where  idleness  may  be  only  a 
question  of  circumstances,  laziness  is  an  inherent 
vice.  They  are  not  only  ready  for  employment, 
but  anxious  to  procure  it.  They  work  with  an 
earnestness  and  honesty  that  shame  our  slovenly 
Northern  laborers,  whose  chief  anxiety  seems  to 
be  to  accomplish  the  smallest  amount  in  a  given 
time.  Digging  in  the  fields,,  carrying  water,  bear- 
ing burdens,  the  Mexicans  work  without  ears, 
eyes,  or  concern  for  aught  save  the  object  in 
hand :  they  spare  themselves  no  more  than  if 
they  were  burros  or  horses.  We  were  told  that 
they  were  dirty,  and  their  towns  filthy.  We 
found  them  dirty,  as  regards  personal  cleanliness, 
in  towns  like  Chihuahua  and  Zacatecas,  where 
water  has  to  be  dipped  with  a  gourd  from  the 
basin  of  a  stone  fountain,  with  scores  awaiting 
their   turn,   or   bought   from   a   carrier.      But   in 


PREJUDICE   AND    REALITY  41 

Aguas  Calicntes,  where  the  warm  waters  which 
give  tlie  place  its  name  run  through  the  ditches, 
the  population  was  constantly  bathing,  or  washing 
clothes  ;  and  there  was  no  suspicion  of  uncleanli- 
ness.  Under  the  circumstances,  a  similar  leaning 
toward  dirt  would  be  found  among  our  own  poor 
people ;  while  the  bath  of  the  rich  Mexican  is  as 
much  a  necessity  as  his  morning  coffee.  The 
bare,  poor  houses  and  narrow  cobble-paved  streets 
are  always  perfectly  clean.  Every  city  of  any 
size  in  the  republic  is  swept  each  morning 
with  whisk-brooms  and  dust-pans.  Imagine  New- 
York's  Broadway  or  Boston's  Washington  Street 
subjected  to  a  like  process  !  But  there  is  un- 
fortunately absolutely  no  knowledge  of  sanitary 
conditions  to  supplement  this  fine  wholesome 
sweeping  away  of  abuses.  Drainage  and  health 
departments  are  yet  in  swaddling-clothes.  We 
have  been  warned  about  their  thieving  propensi- 
ties, and  the  ingenuity  of  their  devices  to  obtain 
unlawful  possession  of  others'  goods  and  chattels. 
After  visiting  twenty  cities,  and  wandering  at 
will  through  strange  and  crowded  quarters  ;  after 
displaying  in  market-place  and  arcade  sums  of 
money,  which,  though  small  enough  in  themselves, 


42  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

were  relatively  lart^e  to  these  primitive  people, 
we  have  yet  to  find  the  first  instance  of  cheating 
or  of  theft.  Not  only  this,  but  some  examples 
of  most  stubborn  and  improbable  honesty  have 
appeared  in  our  own  set  of  experiences,  which 
in  a  party  of  seventy-five  must  be  reasonably 
large.  Is  New  York  or  Chicago,  where  the  in- 
habitants are  obliged  to  chain  door-mats  to  steps, 
and  fasten  burglar-alarms  to  windows,  where 
pickpockets  throng  the  city  thoroughfares,  and 
shoplifters  prowl  about  counters  under  the  dazed 
eyes  of  detectives,  —  is  New  York  going  to  throw 
the  first  stone  .■*  Or  Boston,  where  sneak-thieves 
snatch  weekly  washings  from  the  lines  in  back 
yards,  and  a  bundle  left  for  si^xty  seconds  on  the 
seat  of  a  horse-car  is  gone  from  sight  forever,  as 
completely  as  the  lost  Pleiad .-'  Why  should  we 
point  a  blunt  moral  in  Mexico,  which  could  be 
given  a  sharper  tip  in  any  large  city  of  our  own 
beloved  Union  ? 

Every  thing  unforeseen  is  possible  here.  We 
are  walking  through  the  days  that  follow  the 
Arabian  Nights.  Each  class  of  the  population 
wears  the  garb  which  is  the  uniform  of  its  occupa- 
tion.    The  water-carrier,  in  armor  of  leather,  bears 


OPEN-AIR   MARKETS  43 

his  heavy  jar  suspended  from  a  band  around  the 
forehead  ;  the  ochre-man,  stained  lil-ce  a  terra-cotta 
image  from  head  to  foot,  carries  his  package  of 
brick-colored  clay  above  his  matted,  gory  locks ;  the 
fruit-vender,  crying  his  luscious  wares  in  sudden, 
shrill  monotone,  balances  his  enormous  pannier  on 
his  head,  and  steps  as  airily  as  if  he  were  begin- 
ning a  fandango.  Under  the  open  arches  of  the 
portalcs  the  crockery  merchant  sits  before  his  pile 
of  Guadalajara  jars  and  brightly  glazed  pottery; 
Indian  women  carry  their  double  load  of  baskets 
and  babies  with  the  superb  indifference  to  fatigue 
which  marks  their  race  ;  dealers  in  "  frozen 
waters  "  call  their  sherbets  in  prolonged,  piercing 
notes  like  those  of  a  midsummer  locust ;  sidewalk 
cooks  squat  on  their  haunches  beside  small  fires 
of  mesquite,  over  which  bubble  earthen  dishes  of 
stewed  vegetables,  frijolcs,  or  crisp  tortillas  ;  and 
flower-girls  surrounded  by  piles  of  glowing  pop- 
pies, pyramids  of  heliotrope  and  pansies,  baskets 
of  scarlet  cactus  blossoms,  and  tangled  heaps  of 
superb  roses  magnificent  in  color  and  perfume, 
fill  the  atmosphere  with  brilliant  beauty.  No 
wonder  the  winter  world  at  home  looks  pale  and  y 
cold  by  contrast ! 


44  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Wc  shall  remember  Irapuato  with  love  and 
delight,  when  the  memory  of  perhaps  better  places 
has  faded,  because  there,  one  hot,  dusty  midsum- 
mer afternoon  of  March,  we  bought  Indian  bas- 
kets of  woven  grass  full  of  luscious  strawberries, 
and  reached  refreshment  and  coolness  through  the 
base  medium  of  dos  rcales,  vulgarly  known  as  a 
quarter.  The  state  of  business  enterprise  in  the 
country  may  be  gauged  from  the  fact,  that  while 
the  little  town  and  its  surrounding  district  over- 
flow with  this  delicious  fruit,  and  are  within  ten 
or  twelve  hours'  distance  of  Mexico,  it  never  has 
entered  any  original  mind  to  establish  connection 
between  the  two  points,  and  bring  the  country 
product  into  the  city  market.  So  that  while  straw- 
berries go  begging  for  customers  at  Irapuato, 
customers  go  begging  for  strawberries  in  the 
capital,  and  neither  finds  what  it  wants. 

The  guide-books  speak  of  Queretaro  as  having 
forty-six  churches.  If  you  should  chance  to  be 
there  on  Sunday  morning,  you  will  think  it  has  at 
least  a  hundred  and  forty-six  ;  that  every  church 
has  three  towers,  every  tower  three  bells,  and  that 
every  bell  is  cracked.  It  would  be  beyond  human 
endurance  elsewhere,  but  the  lighter  air  of  this 


ROSE-HEDGES   IN   THE   ALAMEDA  45 

high  altitude  makes  the  sound  so  faint  and  tin- 
kling that  one  is  more  amused  than  annoyed.  Only 
the  clapper  is  moved  in  the  act  of  ringing ;  and 
one  is  haunted  all  through  Mexico  by  a  constant 
vibrant  clatter  from  these  petulant  tongues,  that 
reminds  one  of  the  "damned  iteration"  of  the  old 
poet. 

Outside  the  city,  in  the  pleasant  sabbath  silence, 
the  fine  trees  of  the  Alameda  tempered  the  hot 
air  with  shadows  ;  and  along  all  the  paths,  leading 
as  is  customary  toward  the  central  fountain, 
hedges  of  pale  pink  roses,  with  the  richest  per- 
fume we  ever  found,  even  in  the  regal  Jacque- 
minot, lined  each  side  with  luxuriant  beauty. 
The  courtesy  which  had  made  our  way  easy  so  far 
followed  us  here,  and  allowed  us  to  revel  in  great 
handfuls  of  these  beautiful  things,  which  scarcely 
showed  a  gap  in  their  full  ranks  after  the  party 
had  satisfied  their  cravings.  We  found  ourselves, 
in  rambling  about,  tired  enough  to  rest  upon  one 
of  the  carved  stone  seats  which  have  been  a 
source  of  such  delight  to  us  in  every  town  and 
city  so  far.  Soon  one  of  the  uniformed  police  on 
duty  near  by  approached,  saluted,  and  in  voluble, 
respectful,  sweet  Spanish,  endeavored  to  make  us 


46  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

comprehend  that  we  were  in  some  way  transgress- 
ing rules.  Unable  to  reach  our  understanding 
through  the  medium  of  the  tongue,  he  had  re- 
course to  pantomime  ;  and  it  dawned  slowly  upon 
our  night  of  ignorance,  that  the  kindly  little  man 
desired  us  to  walk  about  under  his  guidance  to 
look  at  the  attractions  of  the  spot.  He  loaded 
himself  with  our  wraps  and  impedimenta,  lifted 
his  hat  again  with  the  bow  of  a  born  courtier,  and, 
silent  but  eloquent,  drew  our  attention  to  this  or 
that  effect,  led  us  here  and  there  through  shaded 
alleys,  picked  for  us  now  and  again  an  unusually 
gorgeous  rose,  and  followed  with  persistent  help- 
fulness to  the  door  of  the  Pullman,  Even  the 
natural  conclusion  of  a  "tip"  had  to  be  forced 
upon  him  instead  of  being  waited  for,  and  we 
spent  a  half-hour  of  deep  mental  introspection  in 
trying  to  comprehend  how  this  product  of  a  semi- 
civilized  state  should  so  outrank  his  prototype  at 
home  in  every  outward  sign  which  goes  to  mark 
the  gentleman.  Imagine  the  manner  in  which  two 
plainly  dressed,  travel -worn,  and  commonplace 
foreigners  would  be  hustled  out  of  some  prohibited 
spot  in  New  York  or  New  England,  —  say,  for  in- 
stance, a  seat  on  the  grass  in  Boston  Common,  — 


SUNDAY    IN   QUERETARO  47 

and  contrast  it  with  the  delicacy  which  made  us 
appear  as  if  we  were  conferring  a  favor  instead  of 
infringing  a  law.     Truly  we  have  much  to  learn. 

Within  the  city,  the  sabbath  silence  was  not  so 
apparent.  The  native  shops,  booths,  and  markets 
were  doing  their  full  business ;  perhaps  a  little 
gayer  than  usual  with  branches  of  flowers  and 
fringes  of  green  palms,  but  otherwise  the  same. 
The  crowd  on  the  plazas  had  a  more  holiday  look ; 
the  men's  white  trousers  and  shirts  fresh  and 
clean,  the  women's  skirts  starched  and  ironed, 
and  all  the  humble,  contented,  happy  world  chew- 
ing sticks  of  fresh  sugar-cane,  or  a  tlaco's  worth  of 
the  small  sweet  cakes  which  meet  you  at  every 
hand's  turn  through  the  kingdom.  At  every  door 
a  group  of  dusky  babies,  and  above  it  the  inevitable 
mocking-bird  in  his  rustic  cage  ;  from  the  open 
church  porches,  the  rolling  diapason  of  the  organ, 
and  chanting  voices  of  the  choir ;  in  the  small  stone 
balconies  of  the  windows,  crowds  of  mischievous, 
chattering,  bright-eyed  senoritas,  gay  in  the  lightest 
summer  dresses,  floating  ends  of  ribbon,  and  softly 
fluttering  fans.  The  same  look  of  thrift  and  bright 
cheerfulness  that  distinguishes  here  always  town 
from  country  life,  solely,  we  are  now  quite  con- 


48  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

vinced,  from  its  greater  opportunities  for  employ- 
ment, shows  itself  clearly.  The  nature  of  the  people 
is  industrious,  but  circumstances  are  against  them. 
We  found  palms  and  bananas  for  the  first  time 
growing  in  the  squares,  and  among  the  flowers  an 
occasional  tree  of  scarlet  hibiscus,  like  large  lilies, 
absolutely  glowing  with  color.  The  houses  are  of 
more  stories  and  greater  architectural  pretension 
on  the  street  side  than  in  any  city  before ;  but, 
while  this  adds  to  the  appearance  of  wealth  and 
comfort,  it  takes  away  some  of  the  great  novelty 
which  has  such  a  fascination  to  sentimental  trav- 
ellers. The  aqueduct,  always  a  beautiful  feature 
in  every  town,  is  finer  here  than  usual ;  the  arches, 
as  the  level  plain  dips  into  the  valley,  being  of 
remarkable  height.  The  celebrated  mills  of  the 
Rubio  family,  which  are  the  only  ones  of  any  note 
in  the  country,  are  the  boast  of  the  town,  and 
really  of  great  interest  from  the  odd  combination 
of  business  and  beauty,  of  peaceful  employment 
and  martial  law,  which  their  walled  territory  offers. 
The  most  notable  remembrance  they  have  left 
with  us,  however,  is  that  of  the  young  heir  of  the 
house,  as  he  came  riding  across  the  plain  from  the 
town,  at  sunset,  on  a  beautiful  Arabian  horse,  with 


A   TRINCE   OF   THE  HOUSE   OF   RUBIO         49 

saddle  and  bridle  so  richly  wrought  in  silver  that 
it  scarce  belonged  to  every-day  life,  and  an  embar- 
rassment of  luxury  in  the  way  of  trappings  that 
would  have  weighed  upon  a  less  noble-spirited 
animal.  The  boy  himself,  in  silver  trimmed  som- 
brero, yellow  buckskin  costume  with  its  precious 
tassels  and  fringes  of  shining  metal,  impassive, 
handsome  face,  olive  skin,  great  dark  eyes,  and 
small  foot  high  arched  as  a  girl's,  looked  like 
some  young  prince  riding  through  a  fairy  tale  in 
search  of  adventure.  The  dagger-hilt  in  his 
silken  sash,  and  the  swarthy  groom  with  his  belt 
thrust  full  of  pistols  and  cartridges  riding  be- 
hind, gave  glimpses  of  some  other  happenings 
which,  thank  Heaven,  are  rare  as  fairy  tales  in  our 
quiet  lives,  and  well  nigh  as  possible.  But,  if 
tradition  can  be  believed,  they  have  been  only  too 
common  here. 

But  chief  of  all  interests  to  us  in  Queretaro  was 
the  fact  of  its  having  been  the  scene  of  one  of  the 
saddest  pages  in  Mexican  history,  —  the  death  of 
Maximilian.  A  heavy  rain  which  had  fallen  the 
night  before  made  the  roads  almost  impassable 
with  deep,  clinging  mud  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  we  drove  out  to  the  sad  little  hillside  of  Las 


50  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Campanas.  Half  way  up  the  stony  slope,  facing 
the  lovely  city  which  lies  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  valley,  rich  in  brilliantly  colored  domes  and 
•towers,  with  sunny  fields  and  shaded  avenues 
stretching  about  the  course  of  the  small  Rio, 
and  the  pale,  shadowy  mountains  filling  the  blue 
distance,  stand  the  three  stone  crosses  marking 
the  scene  of  the  tragedy  whose  shadow  rests  yet 
on  many  hearts.  On  the  quiet  plain  between,  in 
that  June  dawning,  the  Mexican  army  was  drawn 
up  to  see  the  last  act  of  the  short  drama.  Even 
now,  twenty  years  after,  one  cannot  look  upon  the 
spot  without  feeling  some  faint  throb  of  the 
intense  anguish  which  must  have  filled  the  heart 
of  the  chief  actor,  looking  for  the  last  time  upon 
the  fair  land  which  had  lured  him  to  death.  This 
is  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  to  enter  upon 
any  discussion  of  the  intention  or  character  of 
Maximilian.  He  paid  for  his  mistake,  if  mistake 
it  really  were,  with  his  life,  as  became  a  man 
who  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  and  a 
king  who  feared  dishonor  rather  than  death. 
But  any  one  who  reads  the  torn  leaves  of  Mexi- 
can history  from  his  day  to  ours ;  any  one  who 
sees  the  present  condition  of  the  timid,  patient, 


MAXIMILIAN  51 

long-suffering  people ;  the  present  status  of  the 
revolution-tossed,  dispirited  country,  unconscious 
of  its  own  resources,  ignorant  of  its  own  strength, 
must  acknowledge  that  the  problem  of  right 
and  wrong  is  more  easily  stated  than  answered. 
The  simple  earnestness  of  purpose  which  he 
brought  to  the  solution  of  Mexican  politics,  his 
wise  foresight,  his  overwhelming  desire  for  the 
good  of  the  people  and  advancement  of  the 
country,  and  above  all  his  love  for  the  work  to 
which  he  believed  himself  called  by  that  vox 
populi,  which  becomes  under  such  circumstances 
the  vox  Dei,  should  claim  for  him  lenient  judg- 
ment and  profound  pity,  even  from  those  at 
variance  with  his  political  creed.  With  him, 
beneath  the  thin  veil  of  imperial  power,  Mexico 
would  have  been  likely  to  feel  the  protecting 
warmth  of  a  wise  and  kind  father's  love,  supple- 
mented by  the  best  counsel  which  modern  science 
and  wisdom  can  lend  to  government ;  as  it  is, 
under  the  title  of  a  republic,  she  is  become  the 
battle-ground  for  a  host  of  needy  partisans, 
greedy  for  gain,  ambitious  for  power,  and  openly 
parading  the  worst  vices  of  a  military  despotism 
under  the  stolen  name  of  liberty. 


52  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

The  great  advance  which  has  been  made  during 
the  last  few  years  in  the  principles  and  policy 
of  the  ruling  party,  especially  since  the  accession 
of  President  Diaz,  seems  to  possess  elements  of 
staying  power  as  well  as  of  good  judgment ;  but 
one  cannot  help  feeling  that  such  an  honorable 
solution  of  the  problem  of  self-government  would 
have  been  possible  much  sooner  if  the  people  had 
known  some  earlier  training  in  self-respect  and 
the  authority  of  well-meaning  rulers. 

According  to  the  advice  of  friends,  who  warned 
not  wisely  but  too  well,  we  came  into  this  country 
armed  at  all  points  with  munitions  of  war  in  the 
shape  of  insect-powder,  pain-killer,  and  extract  of 
pennyroyal.  We  expected  every  thing,  from  fleas 
to  scorpions,  from  mosquitoes  to  tarantulas ;  our 
thoughts  by  day  and  our  dreams  by  night  were 
filled  with  unknown  species  of  Lepidoptera  and 
Coleoptera  seeking  what  they  might  devour,  and 
usually  finding  it.  But,  so  far,  not  a  stopple  has 
been  touched  in  any  of  the  bottles  provided  with 
such  admirable  foresight.  We  have  not  met  more 
than  a  fly.  We  have  found  absolutely  no  more 
vermin  than  at  home,  and  only  a  reasonable  share 
of  dust ;   but  by  way  of    compensation  we  have 


ODORS    OF   ARABY  53 

discovered  more  smells  of  rare  and  distinct 
species  than  we  dreamed  this  round  world  could 
hold.  The  smells  of  Mexico  are  massive  and 
infinitive  :  they  are  the  only  one  of  her  resources 
which  has  been  worked  for  all  it  is  worth. 
According  to  the  principle  in  natural  law,  which 
makes  one  more  readily  cognizant  of  vice  than  of 
virtue,  we  notice  the  bad  odors  most  now ;  but  by 
means  of  that  divine  system  of  compensation  which 
makes  the  memory  of  evil  fade,  while  that  of 
good  lives  forever,  it  is  the  scent  of  her  rose- 
gardens,  the  sweet,  evanescent  perfumes  of  her 
tangled  flower-hedges,  and  thickets  of  fragrant 
shrubs,  that  we  will  remember  during  the  long 
Northern  days  when  all  this  changeful  experience 
shall  seem  but  a  midsummer  niiiht's  dream. 


54  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    CITY    OF    MEXICO 

The  country  about  Oueretaro  dimples  into  a 
nest  of  sunny  valleys,  rounded  and  curved  into 
great  beauty,  unlike  the  long  plains  to  which  we 
have  grown  accustomed ;  and  the  fields  of  wheat 
have  the  same  delicious  Irish  green  which  we  saw 
on  entering  the  country,  but  which  had  given  way 
for  some  time  to  harsher  tints. 

At  Tula  we  receive  our  first  introduction  to 
that  ancient  Mexico  which  was  so  strongly 
impressed  upon  our  minds  before  being  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  modern  country.  To  those 
who  have  felt  the  witchery  of  Prescott's  story  of 
its  conquest,  it  is  the  old  world  with  its  shadowy 
and  poetic  peoples,  its  vanished  tribes  of  Toltec 
and  Aztec,  its  vague,  mystical  rites,  combined  of 
flowers  and  sacrifice,  of  tenderness  and  cruelty, 
that  appeals  most  strongly  to  sentiment  before 
entering.     But  the   reality  of    the   present   soon 


A   TOLTEC    PYRAMID  55 

asserts  its  sway ;  and,  except  to  those  most  deeply 
imbued  with  the  passion  of  tlic  antiquary,  it  is  the 
new,  strange  land,  and  the  exquisite  novelty  of 
color  and  interest  in  which  it  is  set,  that  command 
and  hold  attention  afterward.  Even  here,  with  the 
remains  of  the  old  gods  standing  in  the  sunshine 
of  the  small  plaza,  and  the  relics  of  old  barbarism 
in  the  dust  of  the  Toltec  pyramid  beyond,  one 
feels  more  as  if  he  had  stumbled  upon  a  new  dis- 
covery than  on  the  evidence  of  an  old  fact.  We 
gathered  broken  fragments  of  obsidian  razor- 
blades  and  flint  arrow-heads  which  had  probably 
known,  hundreds  of  years  ago,  the  baptism  of 
human  blood  ;  we  saw,  in  the  pavement  of  the 
venerable  church,  stones  covered  with  hieroglyph- 
ics belonging  to  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the 
past.  But  across  the  sacrificial  hill,  flowers  were 
springing,  and  birds  singing  in  the  bright  air ;  on 
the  carved  floor  before  the  altar  a  group  of  little 
children  offered  loving  prayer  to  the  Christian's 
God,  and  in  the  evidences  of  a  simpler  and  purer 
faith,  the  gloom  of  those  ancient  mysteries  was 
pushed  into  the  background. 

It  was  here  on  a  hill  by  the  railroad  that  we  first 
saw  the  process  of  pulque-making  going  on  in  a 


56  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

small  plantation  of  maguey,  and  tried  for  the  first 
time  the  national  beverage.  If  any  one  has  ever 
tasted  or  smelled  the  old-fashioned  yeast,  which 
was  one  of  the  rising  powers  of  the  world  before 
Fleischman's  compressed  tablets  wiped  it  out, 
they  will  have  a  very  good  example  of  this  delec- 
table drink.  It  no  doubt  has  virtues,  but  they  are 
well  hidden  ;  and  if,  as  they  claim,  one  can  become 
intoxicated  by  prolonged  drinking,  it  is  the  sour- 
est, thinnest,  saddest  means  of  reaching  exhilara- 
tion that  the  mind  of  man  ever  conceived.  Its 
introduction  into  any  country  as  a  popular  stimu- 
lant would  be  better  than  a  Maine  liquor-law.  It 
is  one  of  the  articles  for  which  that  ugly  English 
word  "nasty"  was  intended. 

And  here,  too,  for  the  second  time,  we  were 
introduced  to  the  well-bred  society  of  convicts. 
They  were  sweeping  the  streets  with  the  inevi- 
table small  hand-broom,  and  returned  our  salute 
with  the  same  smiling  grace  as  their  brothers 
at  Zacatecas.  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  Mexi- 
cans have  come  nearer  than  we  to  a  solution  of 
one  problem,  if  they  can  punish  a  man  satisfac- 
torily for  a  breach  of  law  or  gospel,  and  at  the 
same  time  allow  him  to  retain  his   self-respect. 


APPROACHING   THE  CAPITAL  5/ 

For,  after  all,  what  should  be  the  test  of  the  amount 
of  coercion  or  control  which  law  has  a  right  to 
exert  over  individual  liberty  ?  Does  it  desire  the 
moral  death  of  the  sinner,  or  that  he  be  converted 
and  live  ?  Should  the  main  purpose  of  punishment 
be  retaliation  against  a  criminal,  or  reformation  ? 

Drawing  near  any  one  of  the  great  American 
cities,  the  traveller  meets  little  to  impress  him 
with  his  approach  to  a  centre  of  wealth  and 
power  until  he  reaches  the  immediate  suburbs  ; 
or,  if  the  entrance  be  lengthened,  it  is  more  like 
that  of  a  back  way  than  a  front  portal.  It  is  the 
tattered  fringe  of  the  imperial  mantle,  the  spots 
of  blemish  and  dirt  which  gather  in  the  wear  and 
tear  of  mighty  interests,  that  first  meet  the  eye. 
strained  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  beauty  beyond. 
A  utilitarian  age  and  a  business  people  have 
neither  time  nor  money  to  waste  on  fine  settings 
for  the  jewelled  centres  of  their  wealth  and  power. 
Prosperity  is  the  touchstone  of  beauty ;  having 
that,  they  care  for  no  other.  The  Midas  touch 
which  transmutes  every  thing  it  reaches  into  gold 
cannot  spare  such  simple  things  as  hedgerows  and 
lanes,  which  add  only  treasures  to  the  soul,  and 
none  to  the  pocket. 


58  MEXICO— PICTURESQUE 

;  Fortunately  for  the  sentimental  traveller,  —  as 
he  who  looks  through  the  world  for  pleasure 
instead  of  profit  may  well  be  called, — this  fair 
southern  country  has  not  yet  been  aroused  to 
such  sense  of  its  importance  as  to  require  the 
sacrifice  of  its  luxurious,  unconscious  loveliness 
upon  the  altar  of  interest.  Twenty  years  hence, 
no  doubt,  there  will  be  smoky  piles  of  manufac- 
tories and  workshops,  teeming  hives  of  tenement- 
houses,  noise  and  confusion  of  traffic  and  travail, 
outside  the  City  of  Mexico;  and  it  will  be  a 
goodly  sight  to  see,  since  all  these  are  but  out- 
ward signs  of  inward  thrift.  But  the  glory  of 
Ichabod  will  have  departed.  Now  the  approach 
to  the  capital  begins  thirty  miles  away.  Beautiful 
and  changeful  still,  in  valley  and  plain  and  climb- 
ing mountain-tops,  the  consciousness  of  a  new 
influence  begins  to  force  itself  upon  the  senses. 
The  country  roads  become  broad  avenues,  wind- 
ing between  rows  of  massive  cottonwoods  through 
flourishing  fields.  The  boundless  tract  of  level 
land  begins  to  show  signs  of  more  careful  cultiva- 
tion ;  water  flashes  everywhere  in  the  sunlight ; 
velvety  green  meadows  take  the  place  of  parched 
and  dust-covered  plains.    Hedges  of  century  plants 


POPOCATAPETL  AND   IXTACCIIIUATL  59 

and  numberless  green  shrubs  divide  the  different 
crops  in  the  long  panorama  of  vale  and  hillside ; 
great  plantations  of  maguey  extend  into  the  far 
distance  and  even  up  to  the  undulations  of  the 
foothills,  and  everywhere  fertility  spreads  the 
promise  of  abundance.  Bridges  and  aqueducts, 
rivulets  and  ditches,  open  flume  and  covered 
sluiceway,  distribute  the  bounteous,  life-giving 
power  all  over  the  land,  which  teems  with  rich 
harvests  in  return.  Soon  across  the  clear  air, 
beside  a  mass  of  soft  white  cloud,  —  themselves 
two  snowy  clouds  lifted  into  the  blue  of  heaven, 
—  the  summits  of  Popocatapetl  and  Ixtaccihuatl 
rise  in  their  sublime  beauty.  Unlike  the  great 
peaks  of  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  which  spring 
almost  invariably  from  a  barren  and  forbidding 
country,  torn  and  devastated  by  the  same  force 
which  caused  the  primal  upheaving,  and  bearing 
still  its  sombre  impress,  these  beautiful  forms, 
wonderful  in  color  and  majesty,  tower  above  a 
world  as  beautiful  as  themselves.  The  exquisite 
valley  takes  now  a  thousand  shapes  of  loveliness. 
Tropical  vegetation  shows  itself  sufficiently  to 
make  the  landscape  rich  and  bounteous ;  the 
quaint,  unusual  architecture  of  town  and  village 


6o  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

rising  in  the  midst  of  strange  woods ;  the  softly 
tinted  outlines  of  mosque  and  tower ;  the  dark- 
skinned,  white-robed  people  thronging  the  roads, 
—  all  go  to  enhance  a  scene  which  even  without 
those  wondrous  heights  would  be  one  of  fascina- 
tion, but  which  with  them  surpasses  the  power  of 
words.  When  at  length  the  stately  spires  and 
domes  of  the  great  city,  glowing  with  varied 
color,  and  its  rich  Oriental  mingling  of  white 
walls  and  arches,  are  set  in  the  foreground,  sur- 
rounded by  trees  and  gardens  and  fountains,  the 
picture  can  be  compared  to  nothing  else.  The 
world  holds  few  scenes  to  equal  it,  and  none  to 
surpass. 

The  streets  of  Mexico  are,  in  a  measure,  unlike 
those  of  any  other  city  we  have  so  far  visited. 
Straight,  wide,  and  lined  with  handsome  houses 
two  or  three  stories  high,  almost  invariably  built 
of  stone,  and  lighted  by  large  windows  opening 
upon  small  stone  balconies,  it  loses  something  of 
the  Eastern  character  which  their  narrow  lanes 
of  blank  adobe  walls  give  to  the  lesser  towns  ;  but 
it  gains  a  corresponding  richness.  These  little 
balconies,  ornamented  often  by  carvings  and 
always  by  balustrades  of  wrought  iron,  brightened 


MEXICAN  COURTSHIP  6l 

by  gilding  and  color,  and  shaded  by  linen  awnings, 
make  a  feature  in  themselves.  Here  on  Sunday 
and  fete  day,  as  well  as  toward  evening,  the  youth 
of  the  city  gathers,  in  the  full  dress  of  private 
life ;  and  the  stolen  glances,  which  form  the  only 
intercourse  allowed  between  the  sexes,  flash  back 
and  forward  between  youth  and  maiden.  Even 
deprived  of  the  opportunity  for  interchange  of 
vows,  for  hand-clasping,  and  tender  greeting,  it  is 
self-evident  that  a  young  Mejicana,  true  to  the 
traditions  of  her  Castilian  forebears,  can  make  as 
much  havoc  with  her  languishing  dark  eyes,  and 
the  softly  fluttering  fan  which  supplements  them, 
as  any  other  girl  arrayed  in  the  full  rational  outfit 
of  courtship.  This  is  true,  of  course,  only  when 
she,  as  she  always  should  be,  but  less  frequently 
is,  happens  to  be  beautiful.  The  pretty  girls 
are  exquisite :  the  slender  oval  of  the  face,  the 
rich  olive  of  the  cheek,  the  long,  sweeping  dark 
lashes  over  superb  eyes  glowing  at  once  with 
passion  and  tenderness,  the  low  forehead  with  its 
rippling  mass  of  dusky  hair,  the  slender  neck,  the 
lithe  form,  the  springing  step,  and  the  dainty  foot, 
make  them  like  a  poet's  dream  of  darkly  brilliant 
loveliness,  not  to  be  measured  by  any  type  with 


62  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

which  we  have  been  heretofore  famiUar.  But 
Nature  is  never  over-lavish,  and  the  number  of 
these  splendid  creatures  is  as  few  as  their  per- 
fections are  many.  Remembering  the  streets  at 
home  after  the  Friday-afternoon  rehearsal,  filled 
with  the  fragile,  flowerlike  bloom  of  winsome  but 
delicate  girlhood,  its  brave  eyes  looking  the  world 
full  in  the  face  with  that  mixture  of  innocence 
and  boldness  which  is  the  hybrid  blossom  of 
modern  civilization,  these  shy  but  rich  specimens, 
as  rare  as  they  are  wonderful,  look  few  indeed. 
Their  perfection  is  offset  by  an  equally  pro- 
nounced ugliness  on  the  part  of  the  many  ;  and 
young  womanhood  changes  into  faded  middle  age 
even  sooner  than  with  us,  —  which  is  saying  a 
great  deal.  Nevertheless,  the  graceful  lace  man- 
tilla, which  is  yet  almost  universally  worn  in  the 
street,  but  which  unfortunately  is  beginning  to 
give  way  among  the  better  classes  to  the  ugly 
stiffness  of  the  French  hat  and  bonnet,  gives  to 
many  a  plain  face  such  a  soft  and  effective  back- 
ground that  one  brings  back  from  a  walk  only  a 
l^iquant  and  pleasing  impression.  If  the  Mexican 
women  knew  what  they  were  about,  they  would 
cling  to  this  becoming  head-dress  as  they  do  to 


Till'.   rORTALES  63 

their  faith  ;  the  sex  has  no  right  to  set  aside  such 
a  charming  accessory. 

The  large  and  well-paved  avenues  cross  the  city 
at  right  angles,  overflowing  with  shops  of  every 
description,  well  stocked,  and  for  the  most  part 
conducted  by  French  and  Germans.  Native 
traders  offer  their  wares  under  the  portalcs  and 
in  the  open  market-places,  which  are  to  be  found  in 
every  quarter.  Nothing  in  the  city  is  of  greater 
interest  to  the  stranger  than  these  crowded  and 
seemingly  disordered  piles  of  merchandise,  at- 
tended by  groups  of  swarthy  merchants,  men  and 
women,  who  regard  with  the  indifference  of  entire 
disinterestedness  your  attempts  at  barter,  and 
show  their  contempt  for  ordinary  business  princi- 
ples by  charging  a  tlaco  or  two  more  at  wholesale 
than  at  retail.  You  may  take  up  every  article  in 
their  stock,  and  pass  the  treasures  about  from 
hand  to  hand,  without  the  least  sign  of  apprehen- 
sion or  importunity  on  their  part.  The  bright 
foreign  air  gives  to  even  the  smallest  lane  an 
interest  and  novelty.  Every  occupation  has  its 
distinctive  mark  in  dress,  which  is  like  a  class 
badge  ;  and  this,  with  the  varying  costumes  of 
Indian,     Spaniard,     Mexican,     Frenchman,     and 


64  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

American  filling  the  narrow  pavements,  gives 
constant  variety  to  the  swaying  crowd.  Any- 
where along  the  curbstone,  native  men  or  women 
sit  down  to  rest  with  basket  or  bundle ;  and  some 
of  the  groups  thus  made  are  exceedingly  pictur- 
esque. Each  long  vista,  gay  with  color  and  life,  is 
closed  at  last  by  some  towering  mountain  height, 
which  frowns  or  smiles  as  sun  or  shadow  rests 
upon  it.  There  are  fewer  burros,  those  pariahs 
among  civilized  beasts  of  burden,  but  more  horses 
and  elaborately  equipped  private  carriages.  A 
host  of  hacks,  marked  by  small  red,  green,  or 
white  flags  for  convenience  in  hiring,  are  in  the 
plazas  and  at  street-corners ;  and  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  people  use  them  than  in  American 
cities.  Small  wonder,  when  a  carriage  for  four 
people  need  cost  but  fifty  cents  an  hour. 

The  Iturbide  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  best 
Mexican  hotels,  —  larger  and  finer  than  most,  on 
account  of  its  original  use  as  the  palace  of  the  old 
emperor,  but  following  the  same  general  plan. 
Entered  from  the  street  by  a  large  archway,  the 
house  rises  around  a  fine  courtyard,  upon  which 
each  of  the  four  stories  opens  in  a  succession  of 
galleries,  supported  by  arches  and  pillars  of  stone. 


THE  ITURBIDE  6$ 

Every  room  has  a  great  hinged  window  opening 
to  the  floor,  and  entering  directly  on  these  airy, 
shaded  balconies.  Over  the  casements  and  corri- 
dors leading  to  the  state  apartments,  elaborate 
carvings  ornament  the  heavy  stone  trimmings ; 
and  projecting  from  the  flat  roof,  with  long  gutter 
pipes  of  metal  protruding  from  their  grinning 
mouths,  a  row  of  grotesque  gargoyles,  of  great 
size  and  striking  artistic  effect,  surround  the  four 
sides.  Other  arches  open  in  three  directions  on 
other  courts,  and  broad  stone  stairways  lead  to 
the  upper  stories.  The  rooms,  opening  usually  by 
one  great  balconied  window  on  the  street,  as  well 
as  on  the  inner  courts,  were  large,  charmingly 
cool,  well  furnished,  and  scrupulously  clean  ;  the 
beds,  which  frightened  us  at  first,  being  laid 
Mexican  fashion  on  two-inch  planks  for  springs, 
vindicated  themselves  by  giving  nights  of  restful 
sleep ;  and  the  chambermaids,  who  were  all  cham- 
ber men,  were  the  most  helpful,  kindly,  attentive, 
delightful  set,  without  any  exception,  it  was  ever 
our  happy  lot  to  know.  We  had  grown  used  to 
the  usual  American  article,  who  answers  the  bell 
with  the  look  of  a  martyr,  and  does  your  bidding 
with  the  air  of  a  churl ;  who  sourly  fills  the  letter 


66  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE      - 

of  his  contract,  and  patronizingly  accepts  the 
timid  doiicenr  you  offer  as  a  sop  to  Cerberus.  We 
were  amazed  by  meeting  a  race  of  beings  who 
anticipated  needs,  and  suggested  luxuries  ;  who 
were  interested  in  your  night's  sleep  and  your 
morning  aspect ;  who  were  grieved  over  your  ail- 
ments, and  sympathized  with  your  loneliness ;  who 
were  always  within  call,  and  whose  bright,  dark 
eyes  showed  that  they  had  a  joy  in  the  service 
they  rendered.  Open  doors,  and  the  careless 
disorder  of  forgetful  travellers  in  leaving  money 
and  valuables  about,  offered  no  temptations  to  an 
integrity  as  incorruptible  as  their  other  virtues. 
Over  and  over  again  we  were  met  by  such  evi- 
dence of  this  as  would  call  for  special  mention  in 
other  places,  but  which  here  was  an  every-day 
occurrence.  The  lost  art  of  honesty  seems  to 
have  been  found  again  in  Mexico.  And  this  was 
among  the  people  against  whom  we  had  been 
warned  as  a  race  of  born  thieves,  and  specialists 
in  the  profession  of  robbery  and  trickery.  We 
were  a  party  of  seventy-four ;  we  had  come,  as 
most  people  do,  with  preconceived  notions  gath- 
ered from  men  and  books  ;  so  that  I  am  the  more 
happy  in  being  able  to  record  this  total  difference 


THE   LAND   OF  TO-MORROW  6/ 

between  our  experiences  and  expectations.  It  is 
a  simple  act  of  justice  that  it  sliould  be  placed  at 
least  side  by  side  with  opposing  statements.  And 
\.\\Q  canicristcs  oi  the  Iturbidc  —  be  their  memory 
blessed  —  were  the  last  straws  that  broke  down 
our  camel's  hump  of  prejudice.  In  my  special 
case,  even  the  shock  of  finding  my  maid  a  man, 
and  the  man's  name  Jesus,  could  not  shake  my 
comfort  and  delight  in  him. 

So  far,  in  this  country,  society  seems  to  have 
builded  with  the  ruins  of  its  old  institutions  :  the 
stones  of  broken  monarchies  have  been  used  to 
raise  the  edifice  of  the  new  republic,  which  has,  as 
yet,  added  little  fresh  material  of  its  own.  It  is 
still,  as  its  enemies  sneeringly  call  it,  the  land  of 
to-morrow ;  the  attempt  at  progress  is  constantly 
nullified  by  the  habit  of  procrastination ;  and 
the  best-laid  plans  for  improvement  in  business 
arc  frustrated  through  ignorance  of  the  value  of 
present  action.  Unhappily,  those  in  authority 
lend  themselves  to  this  weakness,  instead  of  com- 
bating it  by  precept  and  example.  The  methods 
of  government  are  as  uncertain  as  those  of  trade: 
it  is  no  more  likely  that  a  law  which  has  been 
placed  on  record  will  be  enforced,  than  that  your 


68  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

merchant  will  fill  his  contract  within  a  specified 
time,  —  which,  indeed,  is  a  small  accident,  that 
happens  occasionally  in  better  regulated  communi- 
ties. But  here  uncertainty  seems  to  be  the  one 
fixed  principle :  it  is  only  the  unforeseen  that  ever 
happens. 

During  one  of  the  early  days  of  our  stay  we 
drove  out  to  an  old  Carmelite  convent,  deserted 
since  the  action  of  the  Government,  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  ago,  which  confiscated  all  church 
property  to  the  State.  It  was  the  Feast  of  St. 
Joseph ;  and  wayside  shrines  were  bright  with 
flowers,  laid  before  the  beloved  feet  of  the  Virgin 
by  reverent  hands.  These  little  nooks,  which 
bring  a  thought  of  heaven  and  heaven's  rest  into 
the  midst  of  the  busy  streets  and  the  hurry  of 
every-day  life,  seem  to  me  a  gracious  and  beau- 
tiful thought.  Why  would  not  an  occasional  one 
be  a  good  exchange  for  Coggswell  fountains  and 
similar  ornaments  in  the  world  at  home  .-•  The 
celebrated  tree  of  the  Noche  Triste,  under  which 
Cortez  passed  that  *'  Sad  Night  "  so  memorable 
in  the  History  of  the  Conquest,  was  one  of  the 
landmarks,  with  the  small  church  close  by,  which 
was    among    the    earliest    buildings    erected    by 


IN  THE  CARMELITE  CONVENT       69 

the  Spaniards.  Across  the  lovely,  dusty  country, 
the  faint  line  of  blue  mountains  rose  through  the 
unusual  mist  of  a  foggy  day,  with  Popocatapetl 
like  a  restful  shadow  beyond.  Farther  yet,  the 
white  lady  Ixtaccihuatl  lay  sleeping  in  her  dream- 
land of  clouds.  Up  and  down  the  long,  shaded 
alleys  inside  the  convent  walls,  with  water  run- 
ning through  stone  aqueducts,  and  springing 
through  small  fountains  at  the  side ;  with  roses, 
tangled  and  fragrant,  making  hedges  under  the 
trees,  and  a  pair  of  tame  goats  gambolling  through 
them,  —  we  walked  for  hours  through  the  ruins  of 
a  once  splendid  property.  The  fine  old  building, 
with  its  long  corridors  and  frescoed  walls,  had 
been  turned  into  a  carelessly  kept  barn  and  gran- 
ary; a  couple  of  horses  had  their  stalls  under 
the  painted  ceiling  of  the  refectory,  and  in  the 
cloisters  still  remained  the  presses  and  vats  used 
for  making  oil  and  wine.  Outside,  an  Italian 
terraced  walk  of  faint  pink  stone  surrounded  a 
small  artificial  lake,  reflecting  a  long  colonnade 
of  light  columns  supporting  an  elevated  prom- 
enade above.  Great  clustering  bushes  of  pink 
roses  bent  above  the  water  at  each  few  feet ; 
apples,  peaches,  quinces,  and  pears  grew  side  by 


70  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

side  with  oranges,  lemons,  figs,  and  olives  ;  and 
we  wandered  about  for  hours,  filling  ourselves 
with  fancies  faint  and  sweet  as  the  perfume  of 
faded  flowers,  and  gathered  armsful  of  bloom, 
until  we  looked  like  visitors  at  a  country  fair. 
And  we  could  not  help  speculating  upon  the 
common-sense  of  a  nation,  which,  having  taken 
the  very  positive  step  of  expelling  religious  com- 
munities in  order  to  increase  the  revenues  of 
the  State  by  utilizing  their  properties,  should 
leave  these  same  properties  go  to  ruin  for  twenty 
years,  without  any  further  effort  to  make  them 
available.  It  is  another  one  of  the  hieroglyphics 
of  this  untranslatable  country. 

There  is  no  end  to  pleasant  surprises.  We 
wandered  into  a  pleasant  corner  one  day.  It  was  a 
long,  narrow  garden,  with  oleander-bordered  paths, 
and  a  row  of  rustic  pavilions  on  one  side,  holding- 
baths  of  clear  water  upon  floors  of  shining  marble, 
into  which  one  descended  by  a  couple  of  broad 
steps  like  those  in  a  Pompeiian  picture.  The 
walls  were  covered  with  a  network  of  fragrant 
growing  plants  ;  and  outside,  in  the  trellised  arbors, 
birds  were  singing,  as  if  harmony  and  beauty 
were  the  only  laws  of  life.     On  the  other  side, 


ON   THE   TASEO  7 1 

an  archway  led  to  baths  for  horses,  which  were 
novel  and  pretty  enough.  Think  of  equine  aris- 
tocrats, who  have  first  a  courtyard  full  of  clean 
dust  to  roll  in  ;  a  preliminary  swimming-tank  to 
flounder  about  in  ;  careful  attendants,  with  soap 
and  brushes,  to  shampoo  mane  and  tail,  and  to 
wash  teeth  and  cars  as  if  they  were  caring  for 
babies  ;  and  a  regal  pond  of  clean  water  to  finish 
their  ablutions,  from  which  they  emerge  shining, 
sleek,  and  beautiful  as  the  winged  steeds  of  Par- 
nassus. Good  horses,  when  they  die,  must  go  to 
Mexico. 

If  the  journey  through  the  country,  with  its 
immense  preponderance  of  poor  dwellings  and 
adobe  huts,  should  have  tended  to  make  you 
believe  that  this  is  the  native  land  of  poverty, 
take  a  drive  any  evening,  from  five  to  seven, 
along  the  Paseo  which  Maximilian  planned  from 
the  walls  of  the  city  to  the  Castle  of  Chapultepec. 
A  boulevard  three  miles  in  length,  and  two  hun- 
dred feet  in  width  ;  with  double  avenues  of  fine 
trees  shading  wide  stone  sidewalks  ;  with  seven 
great  circles,  each  three  hundred  feet  in  diameter, 
breaking  its  long,  level  straightness,  —  it  makes  a 
fit  setting  for  the  brilliant  display  it  holds.     The 


72  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

centre  of  each  circle  is  to  be  filled  with  a  monu- 
ment or  statue,  surrounded  by  a  garden  with 
fountains  and  flowers,  around  which  on  each 
side  the  avenue  sweeps  superbly.  But  a  land 
cannot  have  too  many  pastimes ;  and  the  favorite 
one  here,  of  revolution,  checks  such  minor  mat- 
ters as  internal  improvement  and  decoration,  so 
that  only  three  of  these  pretty  pleasure-grounds 
have  been  finished  in  twenty  years :  the  other 
four  are  as  yet  in  outline.  Through  this  mag- 
nificent driveway  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  bril- 
liant equipages  pass  and  repass  in  the  late 
afternoon,  —  the  carriages  full  of  brightly  dressed 
ladies,  the  servants  in  splendid  but  showy  livery, 
and  the  jainesse  dorec,  more  gilded  than  ever 
under  this  Oriental  sun,  dashing  on  their  small, 
fiery  steeds  through  the  central  space.  The 
young  girls  wear  flowers  in  their  dark  hair ;  the 
elders  drape  head  and  shoulders  in  the  soft  black 
lace  of  the  mantilla,  which  adds  a  new  grace  to 
even  a  homely  woman ;  the  cavaliers  are  valiant 
in  all  the  picturesque  bravery  that  youth  can  dare 
or  money  purchase  ;  and  a  gay  whirlwind  of  nods 
and  smiles,  and  that  fascinating  little  Mexican 
greeting  which  is  spoken  with  the  fingers,  blows 


THE   PALACE  OF  CIIArULTErEC  73 

away  forever  your  idea  of  undiluted  misery.  For 
two  hours,  at  least,  each  day,  the  world  of  fashion, 
of  folly,  and  perhaps  of  pleasure,  has  its  own 
way ;  and  it  is  as  giddy  a  way  as  wealth  can  make 
it.  On  Sundays  and  fete  days  a  band  adds  very 
good  music  to  the  other  attractions  of  the  place, 
the  reckless  riders  dash  between  the  lines  of 
carriages  more  madly  than  ever,  the  air  is  heavy 
with  the  perfume  of  flowers  carried  in  every 
hand,  and  nothing  more  brilliant  can  be  well 
imagined. 

At  the  farther  end  of  the  Pasco,  on  the  road  to 
Tacubuya,  rise  the  hill  and  palace  of  Chapulte- 
pec.  The  favorite  pleasure-garden  of  Montezu- 
ma, this  lovely  spot  owes  its  mixture  of  wildness 
and  beauty  as  much  to  art  as  to  nature.  Rising 
abruptly  on  the  side  toward  the  city  from  the  per- 
fect level  of  the  plain,  it  is  surrounded  by  a  forest 
of  cypress,  which  is  not  surpassed  for  magnificence 
on  this  continent.  The  grand  old  trees,  most  of 
which  must  date  back  over  twenty  centuries,  rise 
in  sombre  majesty  above  those  of  ordinary  growth, 
interspersed  among  them,  like  a  race  of  giants 
towering  amid  pygmies ;  and  the  dim  aisles  beneath 
their  lower  branches  arc  made  still  more  beautiful 


74  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

by  the  almost  intangible  softness  of  draperies  of 
gray  moss,  festooned  and  swaying  from  limb  to 
limb.  Through  this  wood,  shadowy  as  twilight 
even  at  midday,  the  carriage  -  road  winds  and 
mounts  to  the  summit,  whereon  the  castle  and 
military  academy  are  built.  And  standing  on  the 
terrace  from  which  these  arise,  one  looks  for 
the  first  time  across  the  Valley  of  Mexico. 

In  the  natural  order,  there  is  nothing  more  won- 
derful than  this  scene  for  loveliness  in  the  wide 
world,  —  nothing  more  calculated  to  intoxicate  the 
soul  with  the  simple  glory  of  living,  since  earth 
still  holds  such  beauty  for  eyes  of  man.  How 
can  one  ever  hope  to  bring  before  the  sense  that 
has  not  known  it  that  fair  green  plain  stretch- 
ing from  the  marble  terraces  of  Chapultcpec  forty 
miles  away  to  the  dim  horizon  ?  How  paint  that 
foreground  of  majestic  cypress-trees,  draped  in 
shadowy  moss,  which  adds  an  intangible  softness 
to  the  dim  forest  aisles  beneath ;  the  long,  bright 
fields  of  a  valley  fair  as  a  dream  of  paradise, 
divided  by  hedges  of  shrubbery  or  walls  of  cactus, 
until  the  surface  resembles  an  inwrought  tapestry 
of  emerald  interwoven  in  myriad  gradations  of 
tint ;  the  waving  hedges,  outlining  country  roads 


THE   VALLEY   BEAUTIFUL  75 

that  fade  in  the  azure  distance ;  the  magnificent 
avenues  of  stately  trees,  converging  from  every 
point  toward  the  walls  of  the  great  city  ?  The 
city  itself,  a  mass  of  towers  and  spires  and  glow- 
ing, richly  tinted  domes ;  the  scores  of  villages 
embowered  in  leafage,  and  nestling  within  shadow 
of  the  foothills ;  the  sparkle  of  water  on  the  dis- 
tant lake  ;  the  grand  stone  arches  of  gray  aque- 
ducts crossing  the  country  from  the  heights 
beyond  ;  the  wonderful  encircling  line  of  moun- 
tains, deep  with  amethystine  shadow,  that  stand 
like  guardians  of  the  happy  valley's  peace  ;  and 
farthest  away,  but  most  omnipresent  of  all,  the 
eternal  majesty  of  Popocatapetl  and  Iztaccihuatl, 
cleaving  the  blue  and  silent  air,  lifting  their 
radiant  white  summits  like  luminous  clouds  up  to 
the  very  gates  of  heaven,  awful  in  sublimity,  as  if 
belonging  to  the  supernatural  world,  yet  tempered 
with  the  tenderness  of  earthly  beauty,  —  who  can 
paint  the  surpassing  glory  of  this  entrancing 
scene  for  eyes  which  have  not  been  touched  by 
itself  with  the  anointing  chrism  of  vision  ?  If  no 
more  of  beauty  than  this  one  view  can  give  were 
added  to  one's  inner  consciousness,  the  journey  to 
Mexico  would  be  fully  requited. 


76  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 


CHAPTER   IV 

THROUGH  LANES  AND  HIGHWAYS 

The  hill  of  Chapultepec,  abrupt  enough  to 
assure  one  of  its  partly  artificial  origin,  rises  some 
two  hundred  feet  from  the  valley,  crowned  by  a 
marble  castle,  first  built  under  the  direction  of 
Maximilian,  and  now  restored  for  the  occupancy 
of  the  presidents.  Rather  tawdry  in  aspect  as 
one  looks  up  from  below,  it  develops  into  great 
beauty  on  nearer  approach.  A  double  row  of 
light  and  elegant  arches  in  white  and  pale-tinted 
marbles  supports  broad  colonnades,  from  which  the 
main  body  of  the  palace  springs  into  the  air  with 
an  effect  of  great  delicacy  and  beauty.  All  the 
rooms  open  on  these  marble  balconies ;  and  on 
the  very  upper  flight,  reached  by  an  exquisite 
stairway  with  gilded  balustrades,  have  been  built 
fountains  and  terraced  gardens,  enchanting  as  the 
hanging  gardens  of  Babylon.  Around  under  the 
arches,  the  walls  have  been  painted  in  fine  copies 


THE  ^rILITARV  academy  ^^ 

of  Pompciian  frescos  and  Greek  dcsip:ns,  exe- 
cuted with  great  purity,  both  of  color  and  form. 
This  flowery  arbor,  perfumed  and  beautiful,  thrust 
up,  as  it  were,  into  the  air,  forms  the  centre 
around  which  the  rooms  of  the  palace  cluster. 
These  are  airy,  harmonious,  fitting  for  the  purpose 
of  summer  residence,  and  contain  some  marvel- 
lous ceilings,  wherein  Cupids  play  among  tangled 
flower-wreaths,  or  blow  on  conch-shells  to  weaken 
sleeping  Love.  The  lower  story  is  hardly  as  fine 
as  the  upper,  but  the  wonderful  outlook  makes  it 
all  ro3'al. 

Adjoining  the  palace,  the  military  academy,  a 
sort  of  Mexican  West  Point,  gave  us  a  passing 
opportunity  to  note  the  system  of  instruction 
provided  by  Government  to  prepare  its  future 
soldiers  and  scientists.  The  course  reaches  over 
eight  years,  and  qualifies  its  graduates,  cither  as 
officers  or  engineers.  The  school  seems  well  con- 
ducted, with  extreme  cleanliness  and  care ;  the 
gymnasium  fairly  large  and  well  attended,  the 
chemical  department  supplied  with  a  small  but 
choice  apparatus,  the  drawing-school  remarkably 
good,  and  the  sanitary  details  in  dormitories  and 
dining-halls  well  carried  out.    The  boys,  who  enter 


78  MEXICO— nCTURESQUE 

at  fourteen  or  sixteen,  were  bright,  active  fellows, 
proud  of  the  school,  self-respecting  without  being 
conceited,  and  as  well  bred  as  young  gentlemen 
anywhere  could  be.  Nearly  all  spoke  more  or 
less  English ;  but,  as  the  last  four  years'  courses 
are  conducted  entirely  in  French,  they  use  that 
language  with  an  ease  and  perfection  of  accent 
that  leaves  one  in  doubt  as  to  their  nationality. 
Perhaps  some  tacit  jealousy  prevents  their  honor- 
ing the  speech  of  their  next  neighbor  and  whilom 
conqueror  with  a  place  in  the  curriculum  ;  but  it 
will  be  strange  if  this  little  pique  long  outlasts  the 
advent  of  the  railroad.  The  pleasure  of  the  young 
men  in  showing  their  school  was  only  equalled  by 
their  enjoyment  of  our  appreciation,  and  both 
made  a  happy  mixture  of  genuine  enthusiasm.  A 
fencing-bout  given  for  our  entertainment  showed 
extraordinary  skill,  and  I  couldn't  help  wishing 
the  dear  sophomore  at  home  might  see  what 
Southern  vivacity  could  ingraft  on  Northern  sci- 
ence. It  is  hard  to  confess,  but  —  Harvard  would 
be  obliged  to  go  to  the  wall. 

The  world  here,  the  novel,  picturesque  world, 
which  seems  to  belong  to  some  other  solar  system 
than  ours,  leaves  such  an  impression  of  absolute 


ANACHRONISMS  79 

difference  on  the  mind  that  even  familiar  objects 
put  on  an  unusual  expression.  You  see  French 
bonnets  and  dresses  as  unmistakably  Parisian  as 
if  Felix's  monogram  were  embroidered  on  the 
side  panel;  but  the  olive  cheeks,  flashing  eyes,  and 
slender  figures  they  adorn  change  the  well-known 
costumes  as  if  they  were  disguises  at  a  masquer- 
ade. You  see  gentlemen  in  the  ugly  attire  which 
fickle  fashion  has  made  the  exponent  of  modern 
civilization  ;  but  they  look  as  unlike  matter-of-fact 
English  or  business-built  Americans  as  the  water- 
carrier  in  his  leather  harness,  or  the  mozo  in 
zarape  and  sandals.  Is  that  a  commonplace 
horse-car  dashing  around  the  sharp  corner  yon- 
der, with  two  mules  on  a  jingling  gallop,  swarthy 
Indian  women  smoking  at  the  windows,  and  a 
conductor  blowing  his  tin  fish-horn  like  a  mad- 
man ?  What  is  the  time-annihilating  telephone 
doing  in  the  corner  of  this  drowsy  courtyard 
under  the  gray  quiet  of  arches  that  shadow  the 
unbroken  rest  of  centuries,  in  this  land  of  pro- 
crastination and  delay  .-*  And  of  all  conceivable 
anachronisms,  what  brings  a  nineteenth-century 
steam-roller  into  these  fifteenth-century  streets, 
where  the  paving-stones  are  still  brought  in  from 


8o  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

the  quarries  on  men's  backs,  and  the  gravel 
carried  from  the  pits  in  sacks  on  men's  shoulders? 
Even  the  electric  lights  at  night  have  an  eerie 
look.  They  were  always  unnatural,  with  their 
cold  white  glare  and  frozen  sparkle  ;  but  they  are 
a  thousand  times  more  unnatural  here,  glittering 
above  a  people  and  a  country  as  primitive  as  if 
the  world  were  a  thousand  years  younger.  Those 
pale  candles,  like  farthing  rushlights,  that  dis- 
turb the  dark  no  more  than  so  many  glow-worms 
—  they  are  the  Lights  o'  Mexico  for  the  present. 

It  is  the  common  people  who  are  the  principal 
interest  to  the  traveller.  Clinging  yet  with  Indian 
pertinacity  to  ancient  customs,  follov/ing,  even  in 
dress,  traditions  two  or  three  hundred  years  old, 
they  seem  as  removed  from  the  pressure  of 
changeful  events  as  the  fossil  remains  of  another 
age  brought  into  the  light  of  day.  They  work 
with  what  might  be  called  passion,  so  intense  is 
their  application  to  any  assigned  task.  But  that 
over,  the  relapse  into  stolid  indifference  is  as  com- 
plete as  before.  Good  or  bad,  the  gentle,  trust- 
ing, superstitious,  timid,  easily  yielding  nature  of 
the  ancestors  is  continued  in  the  descendants. 
They  could  be  led  to  noble  ends  :  they  have  been 


THE   AZTEC    NATURE  8l 

driven  to  base  uses.  Ages  of  misrule  and  oj^prcs- 
sion  have  not  brolcen  tlieir  sweet  kindliness  of 
soul,  or  dulled  the  instinctive  courtesy  of  loyal 
devotion  to  a  superior.  There  is  every  thing  to 
hope  for  when  this  people  can  be  roused  to  a 
proper  understanding  of  its  own  importance,  and 
of  the  threads  of  advancement  lying  useless  now 
in  their  idle  hands,  but  ready  to  be  woven  into 
strong  warp  and  woof  of  progress. 

The  seeming  unconcern  which  makes  life,  both 
in  and  out  of  doors,  as  open  to  observation  as 
the  air  or  the  sunshine  makes  them  a  constant 
study.  One  may  contemplate  manners  and  habits 
as  if  there  were  no  human  interests  beneath.  But, 
in  spite  of  this  outward  indifference,  a  very  strong 
vein  of  national  spirit  runs  through  the  people. 
Hidalgo,  Morellos,  Guerrero,  Juarez,  only  names  to 
us,  are  to  them  living  embodiments  of  vital  truths 
never  to  be  forgotten,  brave  lights  of  patriotism 
and  principle  that  no  rain  of  blood  or  terror  can 
quench.  It  is  a  pity  of  pities  that  seventy  years 
of  struggle  have  brought  them  no  nearer  freedom 
of  thought  and  action  than  they  are  to-day ;  still, 
to  have  kept  alive  the  impulse  of  liberty  is  an 
immortality  for  the  brave  men  who   died  at  its 


82  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

altar.  In  the  plazas  of  many  towns  rise  the 
monuments  to  their  memory,  and  the  cause  they 
championed:  "Tacubuya  a  sus  Martiros,"  "Chi- 
huahua a  Hidalgo;"  and  the  eagerness  with  which 
these  are  pointed  out  to-day  makes  the  moral 
plainer. 

The  city  overflows  with  public  buildings  of  rare 
interest,  both  intrinsically  and  for  association's 
sake.  The  National  Palace  contains  among  its 
treasures  the  portraits  of  the  earlier  patriots,  and 
the  State  apartments  of  Maximilian  and  Carlotta. 
Republican  and  Imperialist  alike  fell  before  the 
fortunes  of  war,  and  it  is  fitting  that  their  relics 
should  be  preserved  together.  An  attempt  at  a 
practical  illustration  of  liberty  is  made  by  allowing 
every  one  to  enter  certain  rooms  freely.  We  saw 
two  old  women  utilizing  the  principle  by  smoking 
very  bad  cigarettes  in  the  outer  reception  parlor. 
In  the  pretty  patio  of  the  museum,  the  Aztec 
stone  of  sacrifice,  and  some  fairly  preserved  speci- 
mens of  the  ancient  gods,  move  you  to  a  faint 
understanding  of  what  the  far-away,  shadowy  age 
meant.  The  art -gallery  held  a  few  really  great 
pictures,  among  many  of  less  repute.  Among  the 
native  artists,  imagination  as  yet  seems  to  have 


A    RICH    MAX'S    HOUSE  83 

taken  hold  of  nothing  characteristic  of  the  time 
or  country.  This  is  the  more  to  be  regretted, 
since  the  land  overflows  with  lavish  beauty,  and 
offers  wonderful  opportunities.  So  far,  the  genius 
of  the  place  has  made  no  particular  impression  ; 
and  the  treasures  of  nature  have  been  passed 
by  for  conventional  representations  of  Scriptural 
subjects  of  no  value.  When  will  a  Fortuny  or  a 
Gerome  arise  for  Mexico  .'' 

Puebla  and  Mexico,  the  two  principal  centres 
of  the  country,  share  more  than  other  places  the 
cosmopolitan  character  of  European  cities,  as  well 
as  the  extremes  of  riches  and  poverty.  While 
nothing  is  more  superb  than  their  palaces,  few 
things  are  more  squalid  than  the  huts  of  the  poor. 
The  homes  of  the  rich  are  on  a  magnificent  scale 
of  luxury.  An  arched  driveway  leads  from  the 
street  to  the  central  courtyard  tiled  with  marbles, 
bright  with  flowers,  statues,  and  splashing  foun- 
tains, surrounded  by  all  the  appliances  which 
wealth  can  suggest  to  indolence.  Around  this 
inner  pleasaunce  the  house  rises  in  a  series  of 
light-arched  galleries  resting  on  carved  pillars, 
communicating  by  broad  outer  stairways  of  stone, 
and  opening  into  every  room  by  windows  and  doors 


84  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

of  plain  or  stained  glass.  Vines  and  hanging- 
plants  cover  the  low  stone  balustrades ;  gilded 
cages  of  mocking-birds  and  parrots  snare  the  sun- 
shine under  the  cool  arches ;  and  inside  the  broad, 
dimly  lighted  salons  and  chambers,  whatever  luxu- 
rious taste  can  bring  to  aid  comfort  is  lavishly  sup- 
plied. A  host  of  servants  divide  among  them  those 
more  personal  services  which  our  rigid  aristocrats 
prefer  to  render  themselves,  and  a  clap  of  the 
hands  brings  instantly  a  swift  and  silent  attendant. 
Below,  under  the  arches,  on  the  ground  floor, 
horses  stand  in  their  open  stalls ;  there  are  car- 
riage-rooms, storehouses,  and  servants'  quarters  : 
so  that,  when  the  great  gates  leading  to  the  street 
are  closed,  all  the  elements  of  luxurious  living  are 
complete  within.  And  yet  not  all  the  elements  : 
these  lavish  establishments  lack  many  things 
which  we  have  been  taught  to  consider  necessary 
for  even  moderate  comfort.  Neither  grates  for 
fire  in  the  tingling  mornings  and  nights,  nor  hot- 
water  pipes,  nor  set-bowls,  nor  spring-beds,  nor 
kitchen-ranges,  nor  scores  of  other  common  helps, 
belong  to  the  magnificent  menage  of  a  Alexican 
nabob.  As  a  partial  recompense,  their  women 
do  not  break  down  before  thirty-five  with  nervous 


THE  rooR  MAN'S  HOVEL  85 

prostration.  There  is  no  cloud  without  its  silver 
lining. 

The  very  poor  live  within  four  walls  of  dried 
mud,  on  a  floor  of  the  same  material.  Anywhere 
upon  this  a  fire  of  mesquite  fagots  may  be  kindled, 
to  cook  the  universal  tortilla,  which  forms  almost 
the  sole  food  of  a  large  class.  A  few  crockery 
utensils  for  cooking  and  eating,  a  handbrush  for 
sweeping,  some  water-jars  and  baskets,  pcrliaps  a 
bundle  of  maguey  fibres  for  a  bed,  and  the  furni- 
ture is  complete.  The  zarape  is  cloak  by  day,  and 
covering  by  night  ;  the  smoke  flics  out  of  open 
door  or  four-paned  window,  as  it  listeth  ;  the  floor 
is  at  once  chair  and  table;  and  that  is  all,  —  or 
rather,  it  is  not  all ;  for  with  it  stay  patience, 
kindliness,  and  content,  three  graces  hard  to 
account  for  with  such  meagre  plenishing. 

The  churches  of  the  country  arc  always  a 
delight  in  their  outer  elevations.  A  strange  mix- 
ture of  the  Italian,  Moorish,  and  Gothic,  they 
still  preserve  a  quaint  harmony  of  design,  which 
greatly  assists  in  accenting  the  picturesque  beauty 
of  the  country.  The  loving  labor  which  makes 
the  facades  almost  invariably  exquisite  with  fine 
carving,   the   delicate   hues    of   the    softly   tinted 


86  MEXICO  — nCTURESQUE 

stone,  the  domes  covered  with  burnished  tiles  of 
pale  or  brilliant  color,  the  fretted  and  soaring 
shafts  of  belfry  and  tower,  set  like  mosaics  against 
the  sapphire  sky,  are  revelations  to  the  artistic 
sense.  The  interiors  rarely  carry  out  the  promise 
of  the  exteriors.  A  crudity  of  color  in  the  glar- 
ing decorations  makes  itself  felt  within,  which  is 
dissipated  by  the  largeness  and  glow  of  the  out- 
side atmosphere.  In  many  cases  some  false  canon 
of  art  has  caused  the  original  stone  carving  of 
the  walls  to  be  covered  by  wretched  prettinesses 
of  stucco  ;  but  the  revival  of  better  taste  is  begin- 
ning to  demand  a  return  to  the  earlier  purity  of 
design.  Silver  railings  and  candelabra  about  the 
sanctuaries,  rare  tapestries,  and  paintings  by  the 
old  Spanish  masters,  enrich  many  ;  but  their  effect 
is  often  spoiled  by  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  poor  and  tawdry  ornamentation.  Still,  with 
all  its  incongruities,  the  ensemble  is  forcible  and 
picturesque.  The  high  altar  rises  always  under 
the  great  central  dome.  Connected  with  it  by 
a  wide  central  aisle  is  the  choir-room,  placed  in 
the  nave  between  two  great  organs,  rich  in  carven 
woods,  and  screens  of  wrought  metal.  A  dim 
light  filters  down  from   small  windows,  set  high 


A   CHURCH    INTERIOR  8/ 

in  the  lofty  walls.  From  dawn  to  dark  the  slow 
monotone  of  the  Gregorian  chant  floats  in  alter- 
nate antiphon  and  response  between  the  robed 
priests  within  the  sanctuary,  and  scarlet-gowned, 
shrill-voiced  choristers,  half  hidden  behind  tall 
music-stands.  The  people,  reverent  and  silent, 
glide  in  for  a  moment's  prayer  in  the  pauses  of 
the  day's  duties  ;  and  a  certain  mystical  atmos- 
phere of  religious  solemnity,  which  seems  to 
belong  by  right  to  the  place,  forces  itself  upon 
the  most  material  nature.  The  great  cathedrals 
of  Puebla  and  Mexico  reach  naturally  the  highest 
expression  of  artistic  merit,  being  magnificehl  in 
proportion,  and  richer  even  than  usual  in  carving 
and  bas-reliefs. 

It  is  Sunday  morning  in  the  City  of  Mexico. 
The  air  is  filled  with  the  thin  tinkling  of  innu- 
merable bells ;  and,  guided  by  their  stridulous  call, 
the  streets  swarm  in  every  direction  with  a 
church-going  multitude.  The  strange,  overpower- 
ing smells  of  the  sewerless  city  are  masked  for 
the  time  by  the  fragrance  of  flowers  in  the  hands  of 
every  passing  woman  and  child,  —  flowers  massed 
in  the  arms  of  street-sellers,  flowers  stacked  on 
the  corners  and  gateways  of  courts  waiting  for 


88  MEXICO  — PTCTURKSQUE 

customers  ;  such  roses  as  never  were  known  out- 
side the  Persian  Gulistan  in  lung'-steramed  dewy 
bunches  ;  such  pyramids  of  pansies  and  heUo- 
trope ;  such  tropical  gorgeousness  of  glowing 
hibiscus  and  scarlet  poppy  thrown  away  for  a 
song  or  a  miserly  rca/,  which  is  cheaper  than  a 
song  itself.  Where  do  you  find  the  bird  voice 
now  that  will  warble  for  twelve  and  a  half  cents  ? 
Out  of  the  great  doors  of  the  cathedral,  and  out 
of  the  gateways  of  the  other  hundreds  of  churches, 
the  crowd  whirls  in  a  maelstrom  of  entering  and 
departing  waves,  as  some  one  of  the  different  ser- 
vices going  on  within  commences  or  closes.  In 
the  bright,  warm  air,  the  sunny  plaza  is  radiant 
with  overflowing  life ;  the  shrill  cries  of  the  mer- 
chants make  tumult  in  your  unaccustomed  ears  ; 
every  branch  of  business  seems  to  have  received 
new  impulse  from  eager  groups  of  buyers,  in  the 
clean  white  shirts  and  stiff  skirts  that  mark 
holiday  raiment.  Across  through  the  trees  the 
white  tents  of  "  Aguas  Nevades  "  venders  adver- 
tise the  coolness  of  their  frozen  waters ;  the 
Indian  basket  -  women  are  dozing  in  the  midst 
of  their  mountainous  piles  of  willow  ware  ;  the 
melon   and   fruit   sellers    come   and    go    through 


ON   SUNDAY    AFTERNOON  89 

shaded  paths,  with  trays  of  luscious  sweetness  and 
color  balanced  upon  their  erect  heads  ;  and  even 
the  dark,  solemn-faced  children  dimple  into  sub- 
dued laughter  as  they  munch  the  dnlccs  which  no 
one  is  too  poor  to  buy.  Here  and  there  a  mozo 
and  his  sweetheart  walk  contentedly  hand  in 
hand  through  the  broiling  sun,  or  nestle  closely 
together  in  the  corner  of  one  of  the  great  high- 
backed  stone  seats,  always  cither  eating  or  smok- 
ing. From  the  stand  in  the  centre,  the  band  plays 
its  gayest  strains ;  for  music  here  seems  to  be 
one  of  the  component  elements  of  happiness.  The 
giddy,  dashing  small  mule-cars,  which  make  up  in 
speed  the  slow  gravity  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
spin  around  one  corner  to  Tacubaya,  and  another 
to  San  Cosmo,  and  a  third  to  Los  Angels  :  the 
first  class  filled  with  respectable  commonplace ; 
the  second  with  a  picturesque  medley  of  gleam- 
ing teeth  and  eyes,  of  bright  zarapes  and  blue 
rebosos,  of  positive  dirt  and  superlative  happiness. 
Both  classes  smoke ;  all  classes  smoke  ;  high  and 
low,  old  and  young,  clean  and  filthy,  in  door  and 
out,  every  one,  everywhere,  and  always.  Perhaps 
it  is  because  they  are  carried  away  by  the  ruling 
passion  for  smoke,   that  they  persist    in    making 


QO  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

their  little  fires  of  mcsquite  on  the  floors  of  their 
huts,  and  ignore  chimneys.  The  city  seems  alive 
with  humanity.  In  open  window  and  balcony,  in 
door  and  arch  way,  in  plaza  and  lane  and  court- 
yard, the  every-day  numbers  are  increased  three- 
fold, and  the  houses  have  emptied  themselves  into 
the  streets.  The  larger  shops,  being  principally 
conducted  by  French  or  Germans,  are  closed  ;  but 
the  native  tie?idas,  the  markets,  the  cantines  and 
pulqiierias,  and  the  omnipresent  candalcria  are 
widely  open.  After  mass  in  the  morning  is  the 
approved  time  for  shopping  among  the  Indians. 
The  man  buys  his  new  sandals,  and  the  woman 
her  new  veil ;  and  around  each  purchaser  gather 
the  sisters,  the  brothers,  the  uncles,  and  the 
cousins,  to  barter,  to  haggle,  and  to  enjoy  the  dear 
delight  of  bargaining.  Now  and  again  the  dark 
funeral  cars  pass  on  the  way  to  the  cemetery, — 
a  new  treatment  of  an  old  subject  to  which  one 
does  not  easily  grow  accustomed.  A  coffin  on  an 
open  horse-car,  with  the  traditional  bravado  of  the 
driver  thinly  diluted  to  a  weak  show  of  respect  by 
a  weed  on  a  plug  hat ;  and  a  more  or  less  indifferent 
crowd  in  the  covered  cars  behind,  including  every 
grade  of  grief,  from  that  of  simple  acquaintance 


THE   FLOATING   GARDENS  QI 

to  chief  mourner  —  is  worse  even  than  the  dreadful 
funerals  at  home,  with  their  long  string  of  hired 
carriages,  which  }'et  have  some  faint  semblance  of 
privacy.  In  strong  contrast  come  the  inexpres- 
sibly sad  burial  processions  through  the  country ; 
the  coffin  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  friends,  and 
the  little  handful  of  sorrowing  people  walking 
behind.  This  has  about  it  the  pathos  of  homely 
sincerity,  that  the  bathos  of  vulgar  display ;  and 
yet  one  may  be  as  heartfelt  as  the  other. 

Along  the  Viga  Canal,  leading  to  the  floating 
gardens,  which  are  now  more  a  name  than  a 
reality,  the  green,  slimy  water  is  covered  with  flat 
boats  and  barges,  on  their  way  to  and  from  the 
markets.  These  are  sometimes  very  beautiful, 
with  masses  of  vegetables  and  flowers  piled  high 
in  fantastic  shapes  ;  sometimes  as  ugly  as  garbage 
and  offal  can  make  them.  Historians  of  ancient 
Mexico  paint  an  exquisite  picture  of  tlie  light 
peroque  of  the  Aztec,  floating  with  the  dawn  down 
the  shining  water  toward  the  Venice-like  city  on 
the  lake,  wreathed  in  bloom,  its  flower-crowned 
crew  chanting  hymns  to  the  sun  god,  and  the 
atmosphere  of  peace  and  innocence  briglitcning 
the  scene.     But  time  has  played  havoc  witii  this, 


92  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

as  it  has  with  most  poetry ;  and  the  passage  up 
and  down  the  Viga  is  very  sober  prose  indeed. 
Still  it  is  not  without  interest ;  and  if  one's  liver 
is  right,  and  the  stomach  in  perfect  order,  it  is  an 
experience  that  should  by  no  means  be  omitted. 
But  do  not  go  with  too  strong  an  idea  of  the 
Venetian  gondola  and  the  gay  gondolier. 

Although  as  a  rule  the  exterior  is  unprepossess- 
ing, yet  here  and  there  through  the  city  one  comes 
across  palaces  equally  gorgeous  inside  and  out. 
That  of  Gonzales,  ex-President  of  the  Republic,  is 
of  this  latter  kind.  Frescoed  on  the  street  fronts 
in  elaborate  decoration  of  red  and  gold  ;  the  finely 
wrought  balconies  and  screens  gilded ;  the  win- 
dows glowing  with  stained  glass  and  carved  frames ; 
and  the  great  trellised  gates  giving  glimpses  under 
the  archway  of  a  ravishing  courtyard,  paved  in 
colored  marbles,  of  arbors  and  Moorish  kiosks, 
of  fiowers  and  fountains  and  gay  awnings,  —  it 
looks  like  the  pleasure  dome  of  Kubla  Khan,  the 
House  of  Delight  of  good  Haroun  Alraschid, 
the  Palace  of  Pleasure  of  Prince  Fortunatus,  or 
some  magical  garden  stolen  bodily  from  the  Ara- 
bian Nights,  rather  than  a  real  home  for  real 
every-day   living.     If    the   floating    rumors   of   a 


POLITICAL   JO?,r,F.RY  93 

country  mean  any  thing  at  all,  the  retired  official 
who  owns  it  understands  financiering  to  a  degree 
which  makes  Boss  Tweed  a  bungler,  and  Eno  a 
child  in  petticoats.  During  the  few  years  of  his 
administration,  he  is  credited  with  personal  sub- 
sidies on  the  national  treasury,  so  continued,  so 
enormous,  and  so  splendidly  audacious,  as  to  lift 
them  into  the  region  of  high  art.  On  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  man  who  kills  another  man  is 
called  a  murderer,  while  the  one  who  kills  ten 
thousand  others  becomes  a  hero,  his  transactions, 
which  would  seem  to  belong  of  right  to  the  New- 
gate Calendar,  are  considered  in  the  light  of 
diplomatic  triumphs  ;  and,  to  all  appearances,  his 
people  are  proud  of  his  repute.  The  only  differ- 
ence of  opinion  we  found  in  his  regard  was  as 
to  whether  he  had  taken  out  three  millions  of 
dollars  or  twenty-three.  If,  as  is  reported,  he 
has  built  other  palaces  and  other  properties  as 
beautiful  as  this,  he  has  probably  done  as  much 
good  with  the  money  as  if  it  were  left  to  sink 
in  internecine  squabbles,  or  be  stolen  by  other 
revolutionary  communists  ;  and  no  doubt  he  salves 
his  battered  conscience  with  this  moral  reflection. 
The  present  incumbent  is  made  of  better  stuff. 


94  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

The  custom  of  naming  the  shops  after  some 
fact  or  fancy  has  been  a  constant  source  of 
amusement  to  us  all  through  the  country,  but  it 
reaches  the  climax  of  ludicrous  perfection  here. 
It  is  not  altogether  new,  even  at  home,  to  meet 
a  saloon  or  corner  grocery  with  some  such  fan- 
ciful appellation  as  "The  Arbor,"  "The  Abbey," 
or  "The  Golden  Lion."  But  this  universal  bap- 
tism without  rhyme  or  reason,  and  the  utter 
absurdity  to  which  the  limitless  tropical  imagina- 
tion has  led  the  sponsors  of  every  business  house, 
from  a  two-foot-square  pulque  stand,  to  a  gilded 
emporium  of  fashion,  would  make  the  framer  of 
the  Connecticut  Blue  Laws  laugh  out  in  meeting- 
time.  "  The  Fountain  of  Love,"  "  The  Triumph  of 
Dynamite,"  "The  Flight  of  Time,"  "The  Tem- 
pest of  the  Soul,"  are  some  of  those  I  find  in  my 
note-book,  taken  indiscriminately  along  the  street. 
"The  Tail  of  the  Devil"  and  "The  Little  Hell" 
might  have  been  placed  over  their  respective 
liquor  counters  by  a  temperance  lecturer  looking 
toward  the  eternal  fitness  of  things ;  but  would 
he  consent  to  "The  Spirit  of  Purity"  and  "The 
Balm  of  Sorrow,"  over  two  similar  grog-shops  a 
little  farther  on  ? 


EN   ROUTE   TO   TOLUCA  95 


CHAPTER   V 

ON    THE    SOUTHERN    SLOPE 

Passing  away  from  the  city  on  the  way  to 
Toluca,  a  landscape  of  enchanting  loveliness, 
with  some  new  features  both  in  vegetation  and 
architecture,  unfolds  itself.  The  mesquite  takes 
the  shape  of  our  apple-trees,  only  with  a  more 
delicious  green ;  the  vegetable  gardens  are  as 
delicate  and  fresh  as  flower  patches ;  the  houses 
look  like  Swiss  chalets,  or  the  huts  built  along 
the  Norwegian  Alps,  with  broad  overhanging 
roofs  held  down  by  great  stones.  The  hills  be- 
come remarkably  steep  ;  and  the  sudden  down- 
dropped  valleys  stretch  their  cultivated  fields  to 
the  very  summits.  The  poorest  house  has  its 
plat  of  flowers,  and  cage  or  two  of  mocking-birds 
at  the  door.  Most  exquisite  views  open  at  each 
new  curve  of  the  climbing  road  ;  grand  as  those 
of  Colorado,  but  with  a  picturesque  entourage 
that  gives  a  subtle  foreign  aroma  which  that  wild 


96  MEXICO  — nCTURESQUE 

beauty  lacks.  Hills,  mountain-sides,  deep  cup- 
like  valleys,  all  are  glowing  with  verdure ;  and 
the  loving  touch  of  humanity  softens  the  rugged 
grandeur  of  Nature.  The  odd,  pretty,  miserable 
houses,  with  walls  of  adobe,  and  roof  of  thatch  or 
fluted  scales  of  red  tiles  ;  the  lofty,  deep-domed 
sky,  clear  and  dazzling ;  the  clouds  resting  ever 
on  far-off  mountain-tops  ;  the  marshy  meadows, 
with  innumerable  herds  of  cattle  and  swarthy 
shepherds  standing  knee-deep  in  the  water,  are 
another  and  a  newer  page  of  fascination.  Wild, 
rocky  gorges  open  sometimes  suddenly  at  the 
road-side  ;  abrupt  canons  drop  between  the  hills  ; 
deep  chasms  and  sheer  precipices  leap  to  unknown 
depths ;  but  always  beyond,  the  peaceful  valleys 
smile,  and  the  blue  mountains  keep  guard  against 
sense  of  strife  or  danger.  Wretchedly  poor  as 
its  inhabitants  seem  to  be,  there  are  compensa- 
tions. Ignorant  of  care,  untroubled  by  longing, 
untortured  by  ambition,  their  lot  may  have  more 
of  blessing  than  we  imagine. 

On  the  crest  of  one  hill  we  looked  down  a  deep 
ravine  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  thirty-two  hundred 
feet  below,  and  forty  miles  away.  An  ocean  of 
overlapping  mountains,  tossed  together  like  wind- 


ACROSS   A   RAVINE  97 

swept  billows,  surrounded  a  nest  of  small  valleys, 
that  dimpled  in  a  thousand  forms  of  picturesque 
beauty  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Divided 
only  by  brilliant  green  hedges  of  the  maguey, 
the  climbing  fields  of  rich  brown  soil,  fresh 
ploughed  for  tillage,  crept  to  the  topmost  point 
of  the  nearer  heights ;  a  rapid  mountain  stream, 
fringed  with  drooping  willows,  crossed  here  and 
there  by  rude  bridges,  ran  through  the  centre,  and 
fell  like  an  arrow  of  light  into  the  depths  below. 
A  steep  mountain-path,  up  which  a  train  of  burros 
were  painfully  climbing,  passed  over  the  crest  of 
the  nearest  hill  to  some  farther  valley  beyond. 
The  pink  towers  of  an  old  church,  half  hidden  in 
trees,  rose  in  bold  relief  on  the  summit  of  one 
hill ;  on  the  slope  of  another,  a  ranche  of  adobe, 
with  dull  red  roof,  made  a  glorious  bit  of  color  ; 
and  over  the  most  distant  peak  of  all,  the  dense 
shadow  of  a  departing  thunder-cloud  was  smitten 
by  one  strong  beam  of  brilliant  sunshine,  which 
broke,  like  Ithuriel's  spear,  into  a  thousand  spark- 
ling points  below. 

Now  and  again  a  whirling  sandspout  rose  in  an 
airy  column,  far  off  on  some  gray  desert-like  plain, 
as  we  passed.     A  motionless  fisher  with  his  net. 


98  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

standing  in  a  shallow  pool,  rested  like  a  fine 
statue-like  figure  against  the  sky ;  the  drooping 
scarlet  flowers  of  a  wilderness  of  pepper-trees 
stretched  away  on  either  side ;  and  far  on  the  hill- 
side, a  silent  village,  its  pale  clay  walls  shining 
behind  adobe  hedges,  lifted  its  ruined  church- 
tower  amid  a  sombre  grove  of  cypress.  Enormous 
heaps  of  corn-stalks  for  fodder,  and  grain  gath- 
ered into  piles  as  large  as  a  New-England  barn, 
showed  how  the  resources  of  the  country  are 
being  husbanded  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the 
famine  which  devasted  its  homes  a  few  years  ago. 
Still  farther  on  begins  the  winding,  limpid  river, 
which  runs  between  its  high  clay  banks,  down 
the  different  terraces  of  table-lands  in  this  lovely 
region,  and  makes  the  valley  of  Toluca,  with  its 
two  or  three  crops  a  year,  one  of  the  most  fertile 
and  valuable  in  all  Mexico. 

At  Flor  de  Maria,  on  the  shady  side  of  the 
station  platform,  we  found  the  most  primitive 
form  of  industry  we  had  yet  encountered.  Indian 
women  were  spinning  yarn  from  the  wool  of  the 
black  sheep  of  that  region,  by  means  of  a  short 
wooden  rod  like  a  thick  knitting-needle,  with  a  little 
button  slipped  above  the  tip  to  keep  the  thread 


A    PRIMITIVE   HAND-LOOM  99 

from  sliding  off.  One  pointed  tip  rested  in  a 
small  gourd  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  the  stick 
was  made  to  revolve  upon  this  by  a  swift  whirling 
motion  of  the  fingers.  The  left  hand,  meantime, 
drew  the  long  soft  strips  of  carded  wool  with  a 
slow  movement,  into  a  sufficient  tenuity  to  allow 
of  its  being  twisted  in  a  strong  but  rough  yarn, 
around  the  twirling  impromptu  spinning-wheel. 
The  rapidity  with  which  the  thread  gathered  upon 
the  reel  seemed  little  short  of  miraculous,  in  view 
of  the  very  original  method  used  in  producing 
^^^  it.  We  bought  one  of  the  primitive  implements 
for  twenty-five  cents.  But  when  we  desired  to 
add  a  yard  of  narrow  cloth  woven  from  the  same 
thread  upon  a  hand  loom,  the  weaver  demanded 
the  goodly  sum  of  eight  dollars  ;  which  shows,  if 
it  shows  any  thing,  that  even  the  untutored  child 
of  the  Mexican  plains,  as  well  as  the  pampered 
product  of  nineteenth-century  civilization,  knows 
the  difference  between  the  manufactured  article 
and  the  raw  material. 

One  who  travels  by  rail  the  descending  slope 
from  the  capital  toward  Vera  Cruz  passes  in  a 
few  hours  through  all  the  gradations  of  altitude 
which  required   days  to  scale  on  the  other  side. 


100  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

This  entails  some  altogether  novel  experiences. 
At  Esperanza,  in  the  early  dawn,  one  leaves  frost 
by  the  roadside,  and  a  bracing  air  blown  from  the 
snowy  brow  of  Orizaba,  seven  miles  distant.  A 
little  tract  of  country  outside  the  town  reminds 
one  of  New  England  in  June,  but  instantly  the 
glimpse  of  home  vanishes.  At  El  Boca  del  Monte, 
or  "  The  Mouth  of  the  Mountain,"  after  passing 
for  some  time  through  a  rocky  gorge,  the  train 
emerges  upon  what  we  would  call  a  trestle-bridge, 
but  which  has  been  christened  by  these  imagina- 
tive people  in  a  phrase  which  explains  itself,  —  El 
Balcon  del  Diabolo.  The  steeply  sloping  moun- 
tain-side leaps  at  one  swift  bound  into  the  valley 
of  La  Joya,  the  Gem,  three  thousand  feet  below. 
A  miracle  of  loveliness,  full  of  deep,  verdant 
beauty ;  its  rich  fields  stretching  far  up  the 
precipitous  sides  of  the  opposite  heights,  with 
the  tiny  village  of  Maltrata,  a  mass  of  softly  tinted 
walls  and  tiled  roofs  gathered  around  the  spire  of 
the  parish  church,  —  it  glows  like  a  jewel  in  the 
sunshine.  Down  the  spurs  of  the  hills,  cataracts 
of  stunted  pines  and  grizzly  cactus-bushes  sweep 
like  dark  avalanches,  broken  in  their  course  by 
splintered  rocks  ;   and  Orizaba,  a  fillet  of  white 


DOWN   A   MOUNTAIN   SIDE  lOI 

cloud  bound  beneath  its  shining  brow,  fills  the 
eastern  sky  with  glory.  Every  moment  of  descent 
changes  the  scene.  Now  it  is  a  deep  ravine 
sweeping  downward  a  thousand  feet,  filled  with 
pine  and  oak,  mesquite  and  pepper  trees ;  now  a 
sudden  leap  into  space,  as  if  the  solid  earth  had 
lapsed  beneath  one's  feet  and  left  one  suspended 
in  air,  so  slight  is  the  frail  supporting  trestle- 
work  ;  now  a  rocky,  cloven  gorge  sweeping  to 
dizzy  heights  and  depths,  while  the  crawling  train 
clings  to  its  rugged  side  like  a  fly  creeping  across 
a  church  wall.  New  kinds  of  vegetation  bloom 
in  clusters  of  scarlet  bells  in  the  crevices,  and 
strange  ferns  in  shaded  spots  ;  sparkling  mountain 
water  leaps  in  cascades,  or  plays  hide  and  seek 
amid  the  shrubbery ;  and  the  swift-climbing  moun- 
tains interlace  in  a  network  of  spurs  and  slopes, 
around  which  the  sturdy  double-headed  engine 
twists  and  turns,  bounding  down  a  grade  that 
descends  three  thousand  feet  in  twelve  miles. 
Somewhere,  always,  the  white  height  of  Orizaba 
crowns  the  scene  ;  but  the  curves  of  the  road  bring 
it  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other,  until, 
"And  the  mountains  skipped  like  lambs  "  be- 
comes a  fact  instead  of   a  figure  in  one's  mind. 


I02  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Down  and  down  we  drop  to  the  valley  level,  and 
the  awful  beauty  of  the  descent  is  marked  like  a 
cobweb  thread  across  the  mountain-sides.  Fields 
of  pale  yellow  sugar-cane,  bound  for  the  harvest, 
like  sheaves  of  golden  spears,  occasional  clumps 
of  banana-trees,  and  the  deep  green  of  tobacco- 
leaves  begin  to  alternate  with  the  usual  crops. 
At  the  pretty  station,  a  crowd  of  shy  women  hold 
up  odd  woven  baskets  of  straw,  filled  with  oranges, 
limes,  lemons,  baked  meats,  fresh  eggs,  cakes, 
dulces,  any  thing  to  find  a  customer.  We  jDass 
the  "  Little  Hell,"  a  black  chasm  in  which  a  mad 
river  foams  and  frets  through  riven  walls,  and  stop 
beyond  in  a  paradise  of  flowers  ;  for  this  luxurious 
mode  of  travelling  allows  us  to  stop  where  we 
will,  for  flowers,  or  sights,  or  dinner,  or  hot  boxes. 
By  the  side  of  the  little  stream  which  runs 
through  the  valley,  we  find  maiden-hair  ferns,  and 
a  wall  of  small  Scotch  roses  growing  like  wreaths 
on  tendrils  ten  feet  long ;  we  find  gigantic  hibis- 
cus like  masses  of  flame  and  fire,  and  waxen  Yucca 
lilies,  and  pale  purple  bells  with  the  smell  of  wild 
violets,  and  wood-anemones,  frail  but  exquisite. 
The  cars  grow  drowsy  with  bloom  and  fragrance, 
and  we   throw   the   beautiful   evanescent   things 


IN   TIIK   TIF.RRA   CALIENTE  IO3 

away  a  few  miles  beyond,  for  the  pleasure  of  pick- 
ing more.  It  is  a  feast  of  flowers.  We  go  on 
through  a  series  of  enchanting  valleys,  where  small 
cottages,  with  enormous  sloping  cone-shaped  roofs 
of  thatch,  nestle  in  the  midst  of  lavish  beauty, 
and  fields  where  every  product  of  the  temperate 
zone  alternates  with  every  product  of  the  tropics. 
We  pass  fields  of  yellow  squash  blossoms  and 
tomato  plants,  of  pease,  beans,  corn,  lettuce,  and 
radishes,  side  by  side  with  mamae  and  pawpaw, 
limes  and  pomegranates.  The  mountains  change 
from  bare  summits,  stained  with  rare  mineral  dyes, 
to  masses  of  luxuriant  green  from  base  to  crown ; 
a  wealth  of  rich  color  and  fragrance  spreads  over 
field  and  height ;  a  luscious,  rank  magnificence 
of  growth,  which  bewilders  while  it  charms. 

And  before  noontime  of  that  same  frosty  morn- 
ing you  will  probably  be  walking  about  a  coffee 
plantation  ;  the  beautiful  plants  or  trees,  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  covered  with  small,  shiny 
leaves,  dark  and  burnished  like  holly,  with  bright  red 
fruit  similar  to  our  cranberry  both  in  color  and 
size.  All  around  the  garden  the  long,  banner-like 
leaf  of  the  banana  is  waving  above  great  clusters 
of  fruit.     The  air  is  heavy  with  odors  of  orange- 


104  MEXICO  — nCTURESQUE 

blossoms,  shining  like  waxen  stars  through  glossy 
green  leaves,  by  the  side  of  glowing  golden  fruit. 
Immense  pineapples  are  ripening  within  whorls  of 
spear-like  foliage,  with  a  rich  musky  fragrance. 
The  peasant  huts,  with  conical  thatched  roofs  reach- 
ing nearly  to  the  ground,  are  half  hidden  in  lux- 
urious masses  of  unknown  but  beautiful  bushes ; 
and  the  large  sculptured  leaves  of  the  palmetto 
emphasize  the  strangeness  that  surrounds  you. 
If  you  are  fortunate  as  we,  you  will  find  an  olive- 
skinned  group  under  the  overhanging  veranda  of 
the  overseer's  house  ;  the  children  swinging  in 
palm-leaf  hammocks  ;  the  withered  grandmother 
crooning  to  a  baby,  on  the  corner  of  the  wide 
wooden  bench  ;  and  the  graceful  matron  ready  to 
draw  a  gourd  full  of  fresh  water  for  you  from  the 
scriptural-looking  well  under  the  tamarind -tree. 
In  her  long  white  robe,  loosely  gathered  about  the 
waist  by  a  sash,  great  rings  in  her  small  ears,  and 
a  triple  necklace  falling  down  on  the  dusky  bosom, 
she  was  not  unlike  Rebecca.  The  whole  atmos- 
phere was  redolent  of  a  world  new,  strange,  and 
untried ;  and  the  Mexico  we  had  learned  to  know 
looked  strangely  familiar  compared  with  this  one. 
The  heat  was  something  terrific,  as  if  it  smould- 


I 


THE   VALLEY   OF   THE   ATOYAC  IO5 

ercd  in  silent  intensity  ;  the  castor-plants,  grown 
to  large  trees,  with  long  spikes  of  blossoms  and 
pendant  sheaths  of  berries,  looked  as  if  they 
needed  no  further  refinement  of  furnace  to  reduce 
them  to  oil ;  yet  the  laborers  worked  on,  in  sun  or 
shade,  as  the  case  might  be,  as  if  a  temperature  of 
a  hundred  and  twenty-five  degrees  was  a  normal 
condition. 

The  fervor  and  glow  of  this  tropical  country  is 
incredible  to  one  who  has  never  experienced  it. 
Earth  seems  to  have  revelled  in  a  thousand  fantas- 
tic forms  of  frolic  life  in  mere  wantonness.  Every 
hair's-breadth  of  soil  is  covered  with  a  tangle  of 
rare  and  strange  forms ;  interlacing  vines  leap 
from  tree  to  tree,  and  luxuriant  parasites  cling  to 
the  boughs  as  if  jealous  of  filling  every  open 
space.  Lavish  blossoms,  in  gorgeous  masses  of 
red  and  yellow,  glow  alike  on  tree  and  shrub,  until 
one  almost  fancies  the  forests  filled  with  the 
gaudy  plumage  of  birds,  so  large  and  striking  arc 
the  separate  blossoms.  Here  and  there,  as  in  the 
falls  of  the  Atoyac,  the  water  breaks  through 
some  mountain-gap,  to  bury  itself  in  a  fathomless 
depth  of  verdure  below,  and  a  rich,  sensuous 
delight  holds  one  enthralled  in  a  delicious  languor. 


I06  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

It  is  paradise  for  the  body,  but  it  is  too  much  for 

Jthe  soul.     Spiritual  strength  weakens  before  this 

I 

t 


5  luxurious  mass  of  material  force.     I  cannot  con- 


ceive of  great  work  being  done  in  this  seductive 
world.  Beautiful  as  Circe,  it  is  the  mortal,  and 
not  the  immortal,  to  whom  its  fascinations 
appeal. 

This  memorable  day,  which  began  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  thirty-two  degrees,  and  climaxed  at  noon 
with  a  white  heat  of  ninety-seven  degrees  in  the 
shade ;  with  its  unequalled  experience  of  temper- 
ate zones  and  tropic ;  with  its  gallery  of  pictures, 
which  stamped  themselves  like  instantaneous 
photographs  on  tenacious  memory,  —  was  made 
more  memorable  yet  by  the  most  wonderful  suc- 
cession of  cloud  effects  about  Orizaba  in  the  early 
eventide.  While  the  valley  through  which  we 
were  passing  was  dark  with  night  shadows,  the 
dome-like  summit,  radiant  with  crimson  sunset- 
glow,  lifted  its  glorious,  shining  head  into  the 
pure,  pale  air,  while  a  dense  mass  of  cloud  swept 
between  it  and  the  lordly  base,  lost  already  in 
the  growing  darkness.  It  transcended  all  we  had 
yet  known  of  mountain  scenery,  and  its  nearness 
made  the  towering  height  stupendous. 


A   MUSICAL  CONDUCTOR  lO/ 

We  stopped  at  length  on  the  brink  of  a  preci- 
pice on  the  summit  of  the  hills,  in  a  white  radiance 
of  moonlight  that  made  the  world  almost  unearthly. 
The  snow-covered  dome  of  the  mountain  looked 
as  if  bathed  in  molten  silver  ■  faint  home-lights 
glanced  here  and  there,  like  fire-flies,  from  the 
obscure  depths  of  the  valley,  three  thousand  feet 
below  ;  a  long,  wavering  line  of  forest  fires  ran  like 
a  glowing  red  snake  up  the  opposite  hillside.  On 
the  back  platform  of  the  rear  car,  the  dark-eyed 
Spanish  conductor  sang  Castilian  love-songs  and 
Italian  airs  to  the  accompaniment  of  his  guitar ; 
and,  as  the  full,  liquid  tones  rolled  out  upon  the 
night,  the  doors  of  wayside  cabins  opened  softly, 
and  groups  of  silent,  dark-eyed  Indians  gathered 
near  to  listen.  The  people  seem  to  love  music  as 
they  love  flowers  and  birds,  intuitively  ;  and  we 
were  not  surprised  to  learn  that  a  conservatory  for 
the  education  of  promising  voices  was  established 
in  Mexico.  The  perfect  simplicity  and  kindness 
with  which  this  handsome  young  fellow  enter- 
tained us  through  the  long  midsummer  evening 
could  only  be  possible  in  a  country  like  this  ;  and 
it  was  as  charming  as  it  was  new  in  conductors. 

On  the  journey  toward  Vera  Cruz,  the  traveller. 


I08  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

entering  from  the  north,  is  brought  for  the  first 
time  into  close  contact  with  those  immense  plan- 
tations of  the  maguey,  which  form  one  of  the 
largest  industries  of  the  country  at  present.  Here 
for  hundreds  of  miles  the  plains  and  hillsides  are 
covered  with  long,  close  lines  of  agave  in  every 
stage,  from  the  strong,  large,  generous  beauty  of 
the  full-grown  plant,  to  the  small,  tender  green  of 
the  newly  transplanted  shoots.  If  one  can  con- 
ceive the  symmetry  of  these  regular  forms,  with  the 
spiked,  fleshy  leaves,  eight  or  ten  feet  long,  falling 
in  a  whorl  around  the  central  blossom-stalk  with 
the  regularity  of  sculpture,  and  conceive  also  the 
effect  of  seeing  them  spread  over  such  vast  tracts 
of  country,  he  will  have  before  him  one  of  the 
most  novel  pictures  in  this  land  of  novelty.  The 
plant  is  to  the  native  what  the  cocoa-palm  is  to 
the  South-Sea  Islander ;  it  combines  within  itself 
a  dozen  different  materials  for  comfort  and  use. 
Growing  on  an  absolutely  dry  soil,  with  no  help 
from  irrigation,  it  has  a  property  of  condensing 
moisture  and  coolness  about  its  roots,  which 
makes  it  yield  at  full  growth  an  incredible  amount 
of  liquid.  The  difficulty  of  finding  certain  infor- 
mation regarding  any  thing  here,  where  the  usual 


ruLQUE.  109 

answer  to  inquiry  is  a  shrug  and  a  "  Ouicn  sabe  ? " 
has  kept  us  from  finding  definitely  the  facts 
regarding  pulque-making  up  to  the  present  time. 
The  plant,  after  from  six  to  eight  years'  growth, 
develops  in  the  centre  a  large  circular  cone,  which, 
if  allowed  to  increase,  would  become  a  thick  stalk, 
bearing  the  blossom  atop.  The  cone  being 
removed  at  this  early  stage,  leaves  a  deep,  bowl- 
like hollow,  into  which  the  juice  pours  at  the 
rate  of  four  to  six  quarts  daily  for  two  or  three 
months.  The  slightly  acrid  fluid  is  drawn  off  by 
means  of  rude  siphons,  and  left  from  ten  to 
fourteen  days  in  enormous  vats,  covered  inside 
with  hides,  the  hairy  side  out,  for  some  chemical 
reason.  A  slight  froth  rises  during  the  process 
of  fermentation,  which  is  skimmed  off ;  and  the 
I)ulque  is  drawn  into  casks  or  pig-skins  ready  for 
transportation.  What  attraction  to  taste,  sight, 
or  smell  this  thin,  sticky,  sour,  pale  beverage  can 
have,  is  one  of  the  mysteries  a  stranger  can  never 
hope  to  elucidate.  Still,  as  nearly  every  luxury 
in  every  land  is  an  acquired  taste,  from  the  de- 
cayed fish  and  birdsnest  of  the  Chinese,  to  the 
Roquefort  cheese  and  olive  of  Western  civiliza- 
tion, we  ought  not  to  quarrel  with  this  manifes- 


1 1 0  MEXICO  —  PICTURESQUE 

tation.  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
this  country,  the  sHmy,  yeasty,  sorrowful  stuff 
has  an  enthusiastic  success. 

With  this  common  drink,  which  is  to  the  Mexi- 
can what  beer  is  to  the  German,  or  light  wine  to  the 
Frenchman,  the  maguey  furnishes  two  others,  not 
unlike  our  brandy  and  whiskey,  very  intoxicating, 
but,  thank  goodness  !  very  little  used.  We  saw 
but  two  drunken  men  during  our  entire  journey. 
It  supplies  the  natives,  besides,  with  a  primitive 
needle  and  thread,  by  tearing  off  one  of  the  sharp 
spikes  and  a  long  thread  of  fibre ;  it  gives  a  species 
of  hempen  cloth  from  the  coarser  tissue,  and  of 
paper  from  the  fine  inner  pulp  ;  it  provides  a  good 
thatch  for  houses  ;  and  the  debris,  dried,  makes 
fuel  in  regions  where  wood  is  scarce.  So  that  it 
fills  every  want,  like  a  general  utility  man  in  a 
small  theatre  company,  and  brings  its  owner  a  good 
income  besides.  It  is  hard  for  one  to  see  where 
the  profit  comes,  when  a  glass  of  pulque  can  be  sold 
so  cheaply ;  but  they  say  that  each  plant  brings 
an  average  of  about  fifty  dollars  for  its  six  or  eight 
years  of  life,  and  its  hundred  square  feet  or  so  of 
ground  room.  New  cuttings  are  immediately 
planted  in  the  places  of  the  exhausted  crop,  so 
that  a  rejrular  rotation  of  harvests  is  insured. 


A     QUEEN   OF   SIIEBA  III 

On  the  same  southern  route  is  Puebla,  tlic 
second  largest  city  oi  the  rcpubhc,  —  beautiful, 
with  airy,  wholesome  streets,  and  clean,  fine 
houses ;  with  a  wilderness  of  old  churches,  rich 
in  bronzes,  tapestries,  and  valuable  pictures  ;  with 
fine  fagades  glittering  in  blue  and  yellow  tiles, 
and  a  forest  of  spires  and  towers  in  every  soft 
tint  under  the  sun,  purple,  pink,  amber,  and  azure. 
We  found  new  products  in  the  market-places ; 
queer  mats  of  pineapple  and  maguey  fibre, 
pottery  decorated  in  bold  relief,  brooms  and 
sombreros,  and  onyx  worked  into  a  thousand 
ornamental  shapes.  And  presiding  over  a  tawny 
heap  of  oranges  and  a  fragrant  mass  of  pineapples, 
we  found  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  her  great  eyes 
shining  under  a  broad  straw  hat,  her  plump,  dusky 
shoulders  rising  from  the  richly  embroidered 
recesses  of  her  white  caniisa,  her  bare,  small  feet 
and  ankles  showing  under  the  short  scarlet  skirt 
with  its  barbaric  trimming,  and  a  soft,  floating 
sash  of  vivid  colors  loosely  knotted  about  her 
supple  waist.  She  was  walking,  with  a  superb 
step,  through  the  shadows  of  the  arched  portalcs 
as  I  first  saw  her,  and  her  gait  revealed  the 
goddess.     I    am    sorry   to   say   she   was   walking 


112  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

toward  a  pulque  counter,  and  that  she  tossed  off 
a  pint  tumbler  full  with  as  much  sang-froid  as 
you  would  show  in  taking  a  glass  of  ice-water. 
But  she  did  it  with  so  airy  a  grace,  and  with  an 
abandon  so  different  from  the  usual  timid  aspect 
of  her  sex,  that  it  was  irresistible. 

The  people  were  better  dressed  here,  the  scrapes 
finer,  the  sandals  more  like  proper  foot-cover- 
ings, than  in  any  place  we  had  so  far  reached. 
There  were  fewer  of  the  very  poor,  fewer  cripples 
and  beggars  and  unemployed,  than  even  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  ;  consequently  the  general  air  of 
content  and  happiness  was  greater.  The  churches 
offered  an  embarrassment  of  riches,  and  both 
public  buildings  and  plazas  were  exceptionally  well 
kept.  Its  cleanliness  was  marked,  and  a  corre- 
sponding degree  of  healthfulness  made  it  doubly 
attractive.  At  the  Hotel  de  Diligencias,  where 
we  had  our  second  purely  Mexican  dinner,  the 
tables  were  laid  under  the  arches  of  the  upper 
gallery  of  the  inner  court,  under  hanging  baskets 
of  flowers,  with  climbing  vines  and  strange 
shrubs  rising  from  pots  of  deep  blue  pottery 
placed  closely  around  the  light  balustrade  which 
separated  us  from  the  open  air.     The  deep  sky, 


ON  THE   HOUSE-TOP  II3 

with  an  occasional  fleecy  cloud  rolling  across  it, 
looked  down  upon  us ;  the  deep  go,dcn  sunshine 
broke  through  the  delicate  green  hedge  behind 
us  ;  strange  birds  in  odd  wicker  cages  answered 
each  other  in  bursts  of  melody ;  it  was  as  lovely 
a  decoration  as  art  could  conceive.  We  had  a 
spicy,  hot  soup,  of  flavor  unknown  to  us ;  ome- 
lette, with  green  herbs ;  rice,  with  tomato  and 
red  peppers;  beef  a  la  mode;  oyster  patties; 
curry  of  chicken  ;  jellies,  delicate  and  deliciously 
moulded ;  fruits,  coffee,  cakes,  and  tea.  From 
the  promenade  on  the  flat  roof  above,  we  could 
look  down  into  the  court  and  the  pretty 
impromptu  dining-room,  like  some  strange  for- 
eign picture.  And  we  could  look  at  something 
better  still, — at  the  two  mysterious  and  beautiful 
creatures  rising  into  the  serene  sky  only  twenty 
miles  away.  Lightly  veiled  by  a  transparent 
silver  cloud,  which  wound  about  them  in  a  thou- 
sand graceful  forms,  while  exquisite  lights  and 
shadows  stained  their  rifted  sides  with  deep  ame- 
thyst and  royal  purples  worthy  the  mantle  of  a 
king,  —  Ixtaccihuatl  and  Popocatapetl,  brought 
startlingly  near  from  our  change  of  position, 
looked  down  upon   us  through   all  the  changing 


114  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

hours  of  one  memorable  day.  Far  away  on  the 
other  side,  like  a  pale  shadow,  the  beautiful  peak 
of  Orizaba  showed  upon  the  horizon ;  and  fainter 
yet,  the  outline  of  Malinche  made  itself  visible 
beyond. 

It  is  impossible  yet  to  reconcile  the  personal 
dirt  of  the  lower  classes,  which  is  indisputable, 
with  the  cleanliness  of  their  clothes.  Few,  even 
of  the  poorest,  but  have  a  very  respectable  white- 
ness in  their  cotton  shirts  and  drawers ;  and  the 
towels  and  napkins,  which  they  use  abundantly 
about  their  baskets  of  cakes  and  dulces,  are  as 
snowy  as  laundry  work  can  make  them.  They 
are,  besides,  beautifully  embroidered  with  the 
exquisite  fine  drawn-work  for  which  the  women 
of  Mexico  are  celebrated.  It  was  astonishing  to 
see  the  beauty  and  value  which  had  often  been 
added  to  coarse  or  common  material  rn  this  way. 
The  bodices  and  short-sleeved  chemises  of  the 
young  girls,  and  even  the  woollen  petticoats  of 
the  Indians,  were  almost  invariably  ornamented, 
either  in  colors  or  in  white.  The  ease  and  accu- 
racy with  which  intricate  designs  were  conceived, 
or  followed  from  some  minute  strips  of  pattern, 
were  astonishing.     The  recent  "  crazes  "  of  civil- 


CLEANLINESS  II5 

ization  for  art  needlework  have  shown  nothhig 
more  delicate  or  more  refined  than  the  specimens 
of  work  to  be  seen  everywhere  here  from  the 
hands  of  the  common  people.  The  celebrated 
embroideries  of  Fayal  look  coarse  and  mechanical 
in  comparison ;  as  soon  as  their  worth  is  under- 
stood by  strangers,  there  will  certainly  be  a  legit- 
imate and  profitable  occupation  opened  to  the 
women  of  the  country.  Much  of  the  skill  shown 
is  no  doubt  due  to  the  teaching  of  the  convent 
schools,  which  have  always  been  famous  for  their 
training  in  fine  needlework.  The  gentleness  and 
extreme  patience  of  the  popular  character  lend 
themselves  with  especial  adaptability  to  the  care 
required  in  such  manipulation  ;  and  the  renown 
which  has  followed  the  lace-makers  of  Belgium 
may  be  repeated  again  for  the  beautiful  work  of 
their  southern  sisters. 

We  have  been  more  surprised  throughout  at 
the  neatness  in  the  country  than  at  the  filth.  It 
is  easy  to  see  where  carelessness  creeps  in,  when 
water  can  only  be  dipped  by  the  saucerful  from 
the  narrow  trough  of  a  fountain  in  the  smaller 
towns,  or  at  best  be  carried  in  jars  from  the 
aqueducts.      But    it    is    harder    to    explain    the 


Il6  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

clean-swept  streets  and  floors,  the  clean-washed 
garments,  when  one  reflects  that  nine  times  out 
of  ten  the  one  suit,  noonday  and  night,  forms 
the  entire  stock  of  wearing  apparel,  and  that 
cleaning  it  means  the  temporary  retirement  of 
the  family,  either  publicly  or  privately.  Judging 
from  the  number  of  primitive  bathing  and  wash- 
ing establishments  we  met  by  country  brooks  and 
city  ditches,  wherein  father,  mother,  children,  and 
clothes  were  all  being  cleaned  together,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  they  prefer  the  public  demon- 
stration. And  why  should  they  not,  if  it  be  simpler 
and  easier.-*  Is  it  their  dovelike  innocence  that 
is  to  be  condemned,  or  our  prudish  wisdom  ? 


DAY   LABORERS  11/ 


CHAPTER   VI 

SHRINES    AND    PILGRIMAGES 

There  is  something  at  once  inspiring  and 
dreadful  in  the  intensity  with  which  these  men 
work.  Where  or  how  the  fallacy  concerning 
their  laziness  has  gained  ground,  it  is  hard  to 
understand.  Whatever  they  do  is  done  as  if 
salvation  depended  upon  it,  and  the  exertion 
demanded  where  manual  labor  takes  the  place 
of  steam  or  horse  power  is  so  bitterly  hard  that 
it  makes  their  continuous  application  the  more 
wonderful.  We  have  yet  to  see  the  first  instance 
of  shirking  or  of  carelessness.  Slight  of  frame, 
small  in  stature,  with  every  appearance  of  deli- 
cacy in  physique,  they  will  take  upon  the 
shoulders  as  much  as  five  or  six  men  can  lift, 
and  carry  it  an  indefinite  distance.  Under  these 
immense  burdens,  they  trot  instead  of  walking. 
To  sec  a  inozo  climbing  five  or  six  flights  of 
stairs,  and   traversing  acres  of   corridors,  at  this 


Il8  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

swift  pace,  with  a  heavy  Saratoga  trunk  on  his 
back ;  or  to  meet  four  laborers  rushing  through 
the  city  streets  with  a  Chickering  piano  on  their 
shoulders,  is  a  sight  to  which  we  are  becom- 
ing so  well  used  that  familiarity  robs  it  of  its 
first  painfulness.  These  brave  workers  are  so 
surprised  and  unprepared  for  cither  pity  or  sym- 
pathy that  we  begin  to  cover  both  with  the 
negative  quality  of  indifference.  Still,  to  look 
day  after  day  at  street  pavers  and  sweepers, 
working  as  if  fame  or  fortune  depended  on  de- 
spatch ;  porters  hurrying  under  the  weight  of 
their  enormous  burdens  ;  farm  laborers  ploughing, 
reaping,  gathering  wood,  drawing  water,  hour  after 
hour,  without  a  turn  of  the  head  or  lifting  of  an  eye- 
lash for  the  world  outside,  decidedly  upsets  one's 
preconceived  notions,  and  leaves  one  in  a  maze  of 
reflections.  This  utter  absorption  of  self  in  his 
occupation  gives  a  certain  dignity  to  the  man  ; 
and  one  finds  here  often,  amid  the  most  menial 
surroundings,  something  of  that  fine  spirit  —  that 
in-breathing  of  purpose  into  action  —  that  makes 
Millett's  Sower  a  heroic  figure.  Think  of  the  men 
lifted  above  these  by  every  accident  of  education 
and  fortune,  whom  we  so   often   see   in  the  fair 


OUR    LADY   OF   GUADALUPE  II9 

fields  at  home,  listless,  uninterested,  careful  only  to 
fill  the  time  of  their  contract  ;  and  these  earnest, 
eager,  constant  laborers  become  superb. 

The  miraculous  shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Gua- 
dalui:)e,  six  miles  outside  the  City  of  Mexico,  is 
of  great  interest,  as  every  spot  must  be  around 
which  centres  the  hint  of  spiritual  manifestations. 
This  is  no  place  to  venture  a  single  comment 
upon  the  truth  or  superstition  of  the  claims  made 
by  friends  and  enemies.  To  the  people  of  the 
country  it  is  a  real  and  abiding  evidence  of  the 
personal  intervention  of  the  Divinity  in  human 
affairs,  and  a  closer  link  between  the  seen  and 
the  unseen  world.  Deluded  they  may  be,  and 
ignorant  and  absurd  ;  but  can  a  land  that  believes 
in  spiritualism  and  faith  -  cures  afford  to  laugh 
at  them  ?  Are  not  the  crutches  and  staffs,  the 
votive  tablets,  and  touching  simple  offerings  hung 
within  the  silver  railing  of  the  shrine  at  Guada- 
lupe at  least  as  worthy  of  respectful  attention 
as  the  voluntary  letters  and  paid  advertisements 
which  attest  the  miracle  cures  of  a  more  matter- 
of-fact  civilization  ?  "  People  who  live  in  glass 
houses  should  never  throw  stones;"  and  I  am 
tired  of  listening  to  the  audible  sneers  at  so-called 


I20  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

Catholic  superstition,  when  we  preserve  in  our 
midst  to-day  a  score  of  myths  and  delusions 
equally  as  vague  and  less  dignified. 

From  the  height  upon  which  the  upper  chapel  is 
perched,  which  is  reached  by  such  interminable 
flights  of  stone  steps  !  a  lovely  view  of  the  valley 
of  Mexico,  only  less  beautiful  than  that  of  Chapul- 
tepec,  is  obtained.  The  shrunken  outline  of  Lake 
Texcoco,  in  the  midst  of  its  carbonate  plains,  shows 
more  clearly  than  from  the  other  eminence ;  and 
l^iles  of  shining  white  chemical  matter,  like  that 
of  the  alkali  fields  of  Nevada,  glisten  in  the  sun, 
waiting  refining  in  the  reduction  works  beyond. 
One  understands  from  this  outlook  the  enormous 
change  that  must  have  taken  place  in  the  natural 
aspect  of  this  vicinity  since  Cortes  and  his  warlike 
band  crossed  the  narrow  causeway  that  formed  the 
only  communication  between  the  mainland  and 
the  city  built  in  the  lake,  and  only  a  few  elevated 
points  like  this  of  Guadalupe  lifted  themselves 
above  the  shining  waste  of  water  which  stretched 
for  ten  miles  about.  The  present  condition  makes 
the  question  of  drainage  for  Mexico  a  most  com- 
plex problem.  Its  surroundings  to-day  make  it 
not  unlike  a  vast  sewer,  made  possible  to  live  in. 


A   PICTURE   OF   THE   HOLY   FAMILY  121 

or  rather  not  to  die  in,  by  the  wonderful  air  and 
sunshine,  and  the  purity  of  atmosphere  caused 
by  great  elevation.  Coming  from  the  north,  the 
smooth  tablelands  rise  by  such  gentle  gradations, 
that  one  is  not  conscious  of  being  lifted  above  the 
sea-level ;  but  the  eight  thousand  feet  are  actually 
there  to  separate  one  from  the  lower  world,  and 
bear  him  into  at  least  comparative  security.  If  it 
were  not  for  this  blessed  altitude,  and  the  purity 
which  belongs  to  it,  the  city  would  be  a  simple 
death-trap.     As  it  is,  matters  are  bad  enough. 

It  was  on  the  road  to  Guadalupe  that  we  once 
saw  a  picture,  which  has  since  become  common, 
but  which  looked  then  like  a  scriptural  illustra- 
tion made  real,  A  young  woman,  decently  and 
simply  dressed,  with  a  sleeping  infant  in  her  arms, 
sitting  upon  a  small,  patient  burro,  passed  down  a 
dusty  lane  under  the  shadow  of  a  hedge  of  yuccas, 
which  looked  not  unlike  the  Eastern  palm.  Her 
long,  blue  reboso  was  wound  modestly  about  the 
head,  and  covered  the  form  of  the  little  child, 
whom  she  was  regarding  as  fondly  as  the  most 
tender  mother  could  desire.  By  her  side  walked, 
bare-headed  for  the  time  being,  a  handsome, 
middle-aged    man,    with   a   magnificent    shock   of 


122  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

coal-black  hair,  and  a  full,  waving  beard,  A  long 
staff  in  his  hand,  and  a  dull  red  zarape  wound 
about  the  body,  he  looked  as  much  like  St.  Joseph 
in  the  pictures  of  the  Holy  Family  and  the  Flight 
into  Egypt  as  if  some  artist  had  assisted  at  his 
reproduction.  It  was  a  living  tableau.  We  have 
seen  many  similar  ones  since. 

As  the  time  comes  for  leaving  this  lovely  coun- 
try, its  attractions  increase,  and  its  discomforts 
diminish  in  geometrical  progression.  The  dust, 
the  smells,  the  heat,  the  fatigue — what  are  they 
now,  compared  with  the  full  measure  of  delight 
which  memory  has  heaped  with  treasures  .-•  What, 
indeed,  have  they  ever  been  but  passing  hinder- 
ances,  interfering  no  more  with  the  ultimate  sum 
of  happiness,  than  the  fluttering  of  a  swallow's 
wing  breaks  the  beauty  of  his  swift  flight }  These 
two  months,  taken  from  the  dreariest  portion  of 
the  Christian  year,  from  sleet  and  snow  and  mar- 
row-chilling winds,  and  given  up  to  largesse  of 
sunshine  and  flowers,  to  the  superb  abundance 
of  a  richer  summer  than  we  had  ever  dreamed  of 
before,  are  something  to  have  lived  for.  So  many 
unnoted  strange  excellences  clamor  now  for  men- 
tion  before   this   most  inadequate  record  closes, 


THE  SOUTHERN  ATMOSniERE      I23 

that  one  scarce  knows  where  to  begin,  —  the 
faint,  spicy  smell  of  cedar-wood  which  perfumes 
the  warm  air  through  the  entire  kingdom ;  the 
twitter  of  small  bird  voices,  sweeter  but  not  so 
loud  as  our  sparrows  at  home,  in  the  dawning ; 
the  lifting  of  palm  branches  knotted  with  clusters 
of  scarlet  poppies  in  the  nave  of  the  great  cathe- 
dral on  Palm  Sunday,  as  the  priest's  hands  were 
uplifted,  in  blessed  remembrance  of  the  entrance 
of  Christ  into  Jerusalem ;  the  novelty  of  waking 
morning  after  morning  to  the  delicious  certainty 
of  bright  skies  and  warm  air,  as  if  some  clear- 
eyed,  silver-tongued  angel  were  calling  the  weather 
record,  instead  of  the  tricksy -sprite  that  presides 
over  New  England.  And  yet  I  am  more  con- 
vinced than  ever  of  the  superiority  of  our  own 
climate,  impish  as  it  often  is,  for  all  purposes  of 
progress  and  advancement.  Weak  human  nature 
needs  the  impulse  of  re-action  :  it  needs  sting  of 
cold  to  spur  toward  effort.  The  warm  kisses 
of  this  southern  air  would  relax  the  energy  of 
Alaric  the  Goth.  You  might  transplant  a  model 
Vermont  household,  where  the  mother  rises  be- 
fore dawn,  and  has  hot  doughnuts  every  morning 
for  breakfast ;  where  the  children  dress  by  candle- 


124  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

light,  and  do  their  chores  like  clockwork ;  where 
the  father  works  like  an  automaton  from  cock- 
crow to  dusk,  without  taking  time  to  eat,  prefer- 
ring wicked  dyspepsia  to  unholy  leisure, —  you 
might  transplant  a  colony  of  these  just  but  sad 
souls,  and  in  one  generation  they  would  be  reclin- 
ing in  hammocks,  looking  at  the  world  through 
great,  contented  sleepy  eyes,  and  overpowered  by 
the  exertion  of  clapping  their  hands  in  order  to 
call  inozo  or  maid  to  their  side  with  chocolate  and 
cigarettes.  The  mother  might  not  smoke,  but 
her  daughters  probably  would.  The  sharp  voices 
would  have  lowered  three  full  tones,  and  fallen 
into  a  tender  minor  key;  the  swift  jerkiness  of 
motion  would  have  subsided  to  a  languid,  swaying 
glide ;  and  the  whole  family  would  have  succumbed 
to  the  inertia  of  this  luxurious  atmosphere.  For, 
unhappily,  laws  of  nature  are  stronger  than  laws 
of  grace ;  and  the  law  of  climatic  limitations  is 
strongest  of  all. 

One  of  the  last  days  we  passed  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  we  had  ridden  out  by  Tacubuya  to  see 
one  of  the  cemeteries,  surrounded  by  the  high 
walls  and  stern  gates  which  enclose  those  silent 
resting-places  throughout  the  country.     Strangely 


A    I-AST   r.IJIMPSE  125 

enough,  these  are  always  called  Pantheons,  per- 
haps with  some  reverent  idea  that  all  who  enter 
within  this  temple  are  gods,  since  they  have  put 
on  immortality.  As  we  turned  into  the  lovely 
Paseo,  a  thunder-cloud  which  had  swept  down 
into  the  valley  lifted  enough  to  show  the  pale 
white  peaks,  while  its  ragged  edges  still  trailed 
across  the  plain.  Over  the  city  a  hand's-breadth 
of  blue  sky  shone  on  a  bit  of  water  near  it  with  a 
cold,  steely  sparkle ;  while  the  soft,  hazy  darkness 
still  enveloped  the  mass  of  trees  and  buildings 
beyond.  The  beautiful  stone  arches  of  the  aque- 
ducts, bringing  water  from  the  hills,  shone  in  the 
half  light  with  a  dignity  even  greater  than  that 
added  by  radiant  sunlight  ;  and  the  small  white 
villages,  each  an  indistinct  mass  of  walls  and 
towers,  nestled  into  the  background  of  mountains, 
vague  yet  beautiful,  as  adding  human  interest  to 
the  distant  scene.  Elegance  and  wealth  crowded 
the  long  avenue  with  loveliness  and  life,  poverty 
and  rags  crouched  by  the  wayside  ;  and  it  seemed 
a  type  of  the  country,  beautiful,  but  gloomy ; 
strong  with  contrasts  of  light  and  shadow ;  rich 
in  plenitude  of  resources,  but  poor  in  opportuni- 
ties of  utilizing  them  ;  at  once  picturesque  and 
pathetic. 


126  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

The  great  improvement  which  statistics  show 
to  have  taken  place  since  the  advent  of  rail- 
roads, and  in  direct  proportion  to  their  use,  is 
one  of  the  most  encourageing  signs  of  the  times. 
Already  the  states  have  grown  to  see  the  enormity 
of  placing  barriers  between  their  own  free  inter- 
course ;  and  the  law  has  thrown  down  the  petty 
system  of  customs  which  prevailed  on  each  bound- 
ary line,  as  well  as  the  differences  in  currency 
which  made  a  cent  taken  at  Zacatecas  useless  in 
Queretaro.  A  common  coinage  and  common 
laws  are  to  be  put  in  operation  throughout  the 
republic.  Equally  blind  is  the  present  system 
of  duties  between  it  and  our  own  country,  placing 
an  insurmountable  obstacle  between  free  inter- 
change of  products  and  manufactures,  and  shut- 
ting two  great  nations  out  of  mutual  advantages. 
On  our  side  especially  there  would  be  every  thing 
to  gain,  and  nothing  to  lose,  by  abolishing  the  pro- 
tective tariff.  Business  is  conducted  now  upon 
a  most  unhealthy  basis.  Credits  of  a  year  are 
given  with  interest  of  at  least  one  per  cent  a 
month  meantime  ;  an  unfair  taxation  makes  landed 
property  and  incomes  free,  and  leaves  the  entire 
burden  to  fall  on  the  already  overladen  shoulders 


THE   MISSION   OF   THE   RAILROAD  12/ 

of  the  poor  man ;  and  the  national  school  system, 
which  would  naturally,  by  education,  open  the 
eyes  of  the  people  to  these  absurdities,  is  made 
available  by  only  ten  per  cent  of  the  population. 
The  railroad  has  already  accomplished  much  to 
secure  permanence  of  government,  and  protec- 
tion for  business  ventures,  by  breaking  up  the 
organized  bands  of  robbers  which  infested  some 
of  the  richest  districts  ;  by  bringing  newer  and 
more  wholesome  customs  into  the  slovenly  ways 
of  trade ;  and  by  minimizing  the  opportunities 
for  revolt  and  revolution,  which  used  constantly 
to  threaten  permanence  of  government,  by  bring- 
ing all  parts  of  the  country  into  close  and  swift 
connection  with  the  heads  of  departments  at  the 
capital.  The  next  ten  years  will  do  wonders  to 
help  progress  and  utilize  resources  ;  but,  alas  !  it 
will  change  the  beautiful,  picturesque,  unpractical 
world  we  have  rejoiced  in.  There  is  no  rose 
without  its  thorn. 

You  will  be  tempted  to  think,  when  you  return 
to  El  Paso,  that  you  have  gotten  hold  of  a 
very  thorny  rose  indeed,  by  the  time  the  consci- 
entious officials  have  turned  your  trunks  upside 
down,   and   upset   your   bundles    on   the   station 


128  MEXICO  — rrCTURESQUE 

platform,  in  search  of  contraband  goods ;  that 
is,  unless  you  travel  as  we  did,  in  a  party,  and 
under  such  honorable  auspices  that  they  take 
your  honesty  for  granted,  and  pass  your  luggage 
untouched.  The  enormous  rate  of  duty  charged 
between  this  country  and  Mexico  is  something 
stupendous.  Naturally,  in  a  strange  land,  one 
likes  to  pick  up  here  and  there  some  memento 
of  the  new  people,  some  trifles  of  dress  or  adorn- 
ing, to  make  large  the  wondering  eyes  of  the  little 
tribe  at  home,  and  dissipate  a  little  of  the  obscurity 
hanging  about  this  far-away  world.  You  gather  a 
penny  bit  of  pottery  here,  and  a  shilling  vase  there. 
You  negotiate  for  a  zarape  at  Leon,  and  a  pair  of 
coarse  leather  sandals  at  Zacatecas.  You  buy  a 
broken  idol  at  Cholula,  a  reboso  at  Silao,  a  basket 
at  Guanajuato,  an  onyx  paper-weight  at  Puebla,  a 
handful  of  opals  at  Queretaro.  And,  of  course, 
you  get  a  Guadalahara  water-jar,  some  Aguas  Ca- 
lientes  feather-work,  a  cotton  image  at  Chihuahua, 
a  Guadalupe  duck,  and  a  living,  breathing,  delicious 
Mexican  mocking-bird.  Thus  much,  at  least ; 
with  probably  some  of  the  very  cheap  trifles 
which  belong  distinctively  to  each  little  town ; 
so  that  in  the  end  you  have  a  practical  exposition 


A   WOMAN'S   TARIFF   VIEWS  1 29 

of  Mexican  life,  which  is  excessively  small,  en- 
tirely valueless  except  after  a  sentimental  fashion, 
but  intensely  satisfactory  to  yourself.  Then  your 
mind  begins  to  be  harrowed  by  dark  hints  about 
duties,  and  whispered  suspicions  about  right  of 
search.  Stories  are  told  of  this  one  who  had 
to  leave  his  goods  in  bond,  and  that  one  who  had 
to  forfeit  them  altogether.  At  last  you  are  con- 
fronted by  a  formidable  legal  document,  as  vague 
and  stilted  as  legal  documents  always  are,  which 
demands  in  the  usual  solemn  and  priggish  manner 
to  know  whether  you  declare  on  oath  that  you 
have  or  haven't  such  or  such  manufactures  of 
wool,  etc.,  subject  to  such  and  such  laws  and 
by-laws.  Being  a  woman,  you  treat  this  with 
the  contempt  it  deserves,  and  cut  the  Gordian 
knot  by  declining  to  read  it  at  all.  Likewise, 
being  a  woman,  you  are  a  consistent  and  conser- 
vative free  trader  (unless  your  husband  happen 
to  be  a  manufacturer),  and  you  would  scorn  to 
yield  your  principles  to  any  such  base  persuasion. 
Shall  you,  forsooth,  strike  your  colors  because 
there  are  some  paltry  odds  and  ends  in  your 
trunk  in  danger  of  confiscation  ?  The  spirit  which 
animated  the  Revolutionary  heroes  animates  you. 


130  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

That  the  tyrants  in  this  case  arc  of  your  own 
race,  makes  it  but  the  more  harrowing.  If  they 
can  be  mean  enough,  or  absurd  enough,  with 
their  nonsense  about  protection  and  tariff,  to  hunt 
through  all  your  possessions,  and  pick  out  your 
armful  of  poor,  dear,  pretty  things,  why  let  them. 
Yon,  at  least,  will  not  help  them  to  make  out  the 
list.  If  they  take  them,  they  shall  do  so  without 
leave  or  license.  And  so,  having  seized  the  bull 
by  the  horns,  you  wait  to  see  whether  it  is  going 
to  toss,  or  leave  you  alone.  In  our  case  it  proved 
to  be  the  mildest-mannered  animal  possible ;  we 
entered  into  our  kingdom  again  as  untouched  by 
scathe  of  customs-man  or  duty  as  we  left  it ;  and 
so  home,  without  trial  or  tribulation. 

I  wonder,  if  we  ever  are  happy  enough  to  go  to 
Mexico  again,  whether  the  long  brown  fields,  with 
their  tufts  of  strong  green  grass,  will  stretch  away 
to  the  brilliant  mountains  in  the  distance ;  and  here 
and  there  a  water-course  gather  about  it  its  small 
oasis  of  beauty,  with  the  great  unsheltered  corn- 
bins  looking  like  high-peaked  Arab  tents  on 
the  horizon  ;  whether  the  picturesque  shepherds 
with  their  long  wands  will  guide  their  wander- 
ing flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  across  the  brown 


THE   VALLEY   OF   TITE   NAME   OF    GOD       13I 

desert  slopes,  and  the  veiled  women  will  gather 
about  the  great  gray  stone  fountains,  dipping 
their  red  jars  full  from  the  shallow  water  within. 
I  wonder  whether  the  clatter  of  the  tinkling 
church-bells  will  steal  across  the  land  from  softly- 
tinted  towers  ;  and  reptile  forests  of  cactus  snare 
the  sun  in  shining,  prickly  leaf  and  glowing  blos- 
som ;  and  hundreds  of  miles  away,  past  walled 
town  and  domed  city,  the  shining  peaks  of  the 
old  volcanoes  lift  themselves  into  the  bright  air 
against  the  glowing  sky  of  dawn  or  sunset.  And 
places  like  this  little  valley  of  Nombre  de  Dios, 
which  we  are  passing  to-day,  lying  under  the 
mountains  by  the  river-side,  its  poor  cottagers 
riding  home  on  tired  horses  to  the  desolate,  small 
adobe  huts,  and  the  evening  meal  of  tortillas,  or 
walking  across  the  pretty  fields,  husband  holding 
the  hand  of  wife  and  child,  —  I  wonder  whether, 
with  its  Name  of  God  changed  to  the  name  of 
some  bustling  American  manufacturer  who  will 
develop  the  silver  and  copper  of  its  background 
of  mineral  hills,  its  huts  replaced  by  comfortable 
frame-houses,  its  scant  mesquite  fires  changed  to 
labor-saving  stoves,  its  rags  discarded  for  decent 
clothes,  and  its  ruined   towers  rebuilt  into  trim 


132  MEXICO— PICTURESQUE 

steeples,  it  will  be  as  lovely,  as  contented,  or  as 
happy  as  it  is  to-day.  May  Heaven  grant  it !  and 
as  to  this,  so  to  every  other  spot  in  Mexico.  But 
how  glad  one  should  be  to  have  seen  it  before 
improvement  stepped  in  to  civilize  and  spoil ! 
Just  as  it  is,  strange  mixture  of  industry  and 
unthrift,  of  sweetness  and  impurity,  of  barrenness 
and  luxurious  richness,  of  poverty  and  wealth,  of 
repulsiveness  and  fascination,  has  the  world  to- 
day any  thing  better  to  offer  than  a  Mexican 
holiday  ? 


LITERARY  TRAITS  1 33 


CHAPTER   VII 

LITERARY    MEXICO  :     A    GROUP    OF    NOVELS 

Before  leaving  that  domain  of  the  picturesque 
to  which  its  natural  scenery  and  poetic  expression 
belong,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  take  a 
passing  glance  at  the  lighter  literature  of  Mexico, 
as  represented  in  the  works  of  its  better  known 
novelists.  Choosing,  then,  as  specimens,  three 
or  four  books  from  the  somewhat  limited  list  at 
the  service  of  the  reader,  one  is  first  struck  by 
a  certain  number  of  general  traits  which  form  a 
foundation  for  the  superstructures  of  differing 
styles  and  authors.  There  is,  to  begin  with,  an 
almost  universal  absence  of  the  finer  analytic  and 
subjective  writing.  Character  is  painted  broadly 
rather  than  by  delicate  touches  of  detail,  and 
the  motives  of  action  are  only  suggested  by  the 
accomplishment  of  the  act.  There  is  a  tendency 
towards  epigrammatic  terseness  in  sentence  and 
paragraph ;   and,   except  in  very  rare  cases,  any 


134  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

close  study  of  psychological  phenomena  in  con- 
nection with  the  conduct  of  personages  is  left  to 
the  reader  himself.  He  may  form  his  own  con- 
clusions, or  he  may  read  his  tale  without  drawing 
therefrom  any  moral.  One  finds  invariably  a 
deep  admiration  for  nature,  expressed  in  delicate 
word-painting  of  scenery,  and  loving  reminiscences 
of  favorite  spots.  The  material  environment  is 
always  luminous  and  forceful ;  there  can  never  be 
any  doubt,  in  this  fine  glow  of  local  color,  as  to 
where  the  action  of  the  drama  is  laid.  And  there 
is  an  immense  impulse  of  patriotic  spirit  which 
seems,  in  spite  of  time  and  distance,  to  propel  the 
author  toward  the  days  of  revolution  and  struggle 
for  his  inise  en  scene.  In  the  twelve  novels  we 
have  chosen  as  a  basis  for  observation,  eleven  are 
placed,  as  to  time,  amid  the  complications  arising 
from  the  events  of  the  years  between  i860  and 
1867.  They  might  all  be  historic  as  well  as  the 
two  which  bear  this  distinctive  title.  The  single 
exception  is  a  chronicle  of  life  and  customs  more 
than  a  hundred  years  ago. 

For  many  reasons  this  exceptional  story  is  of 
interest.  Purporting  to  be  the  garrulous  narrative 
of  a  man  drawing  near  the  limit  of  extreme  age, 


AN   HUNDRED   YEARS    AGO  1 35 

and  relating  to  children  and  grandchildren  the 
history  of  his  earlier  career,  it  is  as  remarkable 
for  minuteness  of  detail,  as  are  its  comiaanion 
volumes  for  large  generalizations.  After  the 
fashion  of  "Gil  Bias,"  it  is  interspersed  with  ac- 
counts of  the  adv^entures  of  this  or  that  comrade 
whom  chance  has  brought  into  contact  with  the 
hero.  With  much  less  elegance  of  style  than  the 
celebrated  story  of  Le  Sage,  it  more  than  repairs 
this  shortcoming  by  the  purity  of  incident  and 
superior  moral  tone  which  pervades  its  many 
chapters.  With  utmost  exactness  it  relates  the 
trivial  incidents  of  infancy,  childhood,  and  youth  ; 
each  passing  event  is  made  the  subject  of  a  new 
disquisition.  Mistakes  of  the  time  regarding  the 
rearing  of  children,  the  sending  out  of  the  in- 
fant to  nurse,  the  relegating  of  early  training  to 
servants  and  irresponsible  persons,  the  absurd 
ignorance  of  the  village  schoolmaster,  all  receive 
their  share  of  castigation.  Laxness  of  discipline 
in  seminary  and  college,  the  strange  mingling  of 
trivialities  and  superstitions  which  finally  assumed 
the  place  of  education,  the  mis-usages  of  society 
which  condemned  the  offspring  of  well-to-do 
parents  to  the  temptations  of  idleness,  each  has 


136  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

its  own  long  chapter  in  the  nine  hundred  pages 
of  this  interesting  but  endless  volume.  Life  on 
the  haciendas,  with  its  private  bull-ring,  and 
slow  recurring  village  festas  ;  life  in  the  city,  its 
sole  idea  of  amusement  centering  about  the  gam- 
bling-table, and  the  disgraceful  orgy  of  the  public 
ball ;  life  in  the  home,  languid,  dull,  unoccupied 
by  sense  of  duty  beyond  the  sluggish  routine  of 
domestic  affairs,  or  elevation  of  purpose  save  the 
endeavor  to  uphold  traditions  of  caste  at  expense 
of  probity  and  comfort,  all  these  are  delineated  with 
affecting  realism.  Compared  with  this  picture  of 
customs  and  manners  a  century  ago,  the  Mexico 
of  to-day  is  a  land  of  impetuous  progress ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  one  is  surprised  to  find  amid  the 
old-fashioned  moralizing  of  the  venerable  penitent 
some  of  the  most  approved  modern  ideas  concern- 
ing social  problems.  He  declaims  against  round 
dancing ;  he  scourges  the  fashion  of  wearing 
mourning  graded  to  express  the  infinitesimal 
steps  in  the  passage  from  deep  black  grief  to  pale 
mauve  melancholy  ;  he  criticises  prison  discipline 
as  means  of  reformation  ;  he  castigates  the  misrule 
and  ignorance  of  ordinary  hospital  management. 
And  so  through  a  series  of  homilies  upon  affairs 


AN   EDITOR'S    STORY  13/ 

of  Church  and  State  ;  of  groanings  over  his  own 
wickedness,  tempered  by  mild  senile  enjoyment  of 
these  youthful  escapades ;  of  love  and  marriage ;  of 
vivid  interjectional  description  ;  and  of  c[uotations 
from  Livy,  from  Horace,  from  Pliny,  from  Cicero, 
from  Tacitus  and  IMarcus  Aurelius,  —  the  old  phi- 
losopher gossips  over  infirmities  of  time,  and  hope 
of  immortality.  He  carries  minutiae  of  detail  even 
beyond  the  grave,  and  leaves  behind  a  Latin  in- 
scription to  adorn  his  tomb.  The  photographic 
minuteness  with  which  life  in  those  earlier  days 
is  depicted  makes  "El  Periquillo  Sarniento "  an 
admirable  yardstick  by  which  to  measure  reform. 

Among  more  modern  stories,  "  Guadalupe,"  by 
Irenio  Paz,  editor  of  the  daily  paper  "  La  Patria," 
may  be  taken  as  a  fair  example  of  the  popular 
novel.  Senor  Paz  is  a  voluminous  writer.  The 
series  of  bulky  volumes  bearing  his  name  on  the 
titlcpage  must  tantalize  his  Northern  editorial 
brother  with  suggestions  of  possibilities  of  leisure 
with  which  the  latter  is  perforce  unacquainted. 
Fancy  the  managing  head  of  the  "  New-York 
Herald  "  indulging  in  literary  distractions  which 
should  result  in  a  score  of  books !  The  style  of 
this  author  is  simple  and  direct.     The  characters 


138  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

are  introduced  at  once  in  their  true  colors,  with 
an  amiable  frankness  which  precludes  possibility 
of  mistake.  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
identity  of  polished  villain,  or  poor  but  virtuous 
hero.  There  is  no  complication  of  mixed  person- 
ality in  which  good  and  evil  struggle  for  the 
mastery,  and  sympathy  swings  like  a  pendulum 
between  disgust  and  admiration.  The  narrative 
moves  through  quiet  regions  of  commonplace  until 
some  lofty  trait  or  some  deep  wickedness  needs 
illustration,  when  it  suddenly  bounds  into  the 
mazes  of  melodrama,  and  the  reader  finds  himself 
tossed  upon  stormy  billows  of  heroism,  passion, 
or  remorse,  as  the  case  may  be.  In  justice,  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  these  transitions  are 
infrequent ;  otherwise  the  sensation  would  be  too 
much  that  of  mental  seasickness.  The  quiet, 
homely  life  which  "  Guadalupe "  depicts,  speaks 
well  for  the  people  who  furnish  such  a  record ; 
and  the  popular  taste  which  accepts  such  placid 
chronicles  of  gentle  love  and  religiously  tempered 
hate  is,  at  least,  evidence  of  a  purer  and  more 
wholesome  temperament  than  that  which  subsists 
upon  the  vicious  sensationalism  of  the  American 
dime-novel  or  the  outrageous  vulgarity  of  "  Peck's 


HOME   LIFE   IN   THE   MIDDLE   CLASS         1 39 

Bad  Boy."  The  interpolated  heroics  arc  too 
obviously  constructed  for  effect  to  be  capable 
of  producing  any.  They  are  like  the  crashing 
and  flashing  of  a  stage  thunderstorm.  One 
acknowledges  their  worth  as  settings,  but  they 
would  never  perturb  the  spirit  nor  turn  milk 
sour. 

The  picture  of  home-life  among  the  middle 
classes,  as  gathered  from  this  and  other  works 
of  the  same  author,  is  sound  and  healthy.  There 
is  deference  to  parental  authority ;  there  are 
simple  amusements,  and  close  guardianship  which 
watches  over  intercourse  between  the  sexes ; 
there  is  nai've  expression  of  opinion  in  matters 
of  faith  and  philosophy ;  and,  permeating  all, 
the  serenity  of  easy,  unhurried  existence,  which 
gently  bears  rich  and  poor  upon  its  placid  sur- 
face. Extremely  pleasing  are  these  after  the 
turbid  and  motley  variations  which  are  required 
to  spice  parallel  histories  in  our  own  progressive 
centres.  It  is  food  for  pride,  as  well  as  patriot- 
ism, to  observe  that  a  commission  of  importance  1 
to  los  Estados  Unidos,  and  a  subsequent  tour  j 
through  that  region  of  high  civilization,  is  the  i 
reward  reserved  for  the  brave  young   man  who  | 


I40  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

has  raised  himself  by  his  own  efforts  from  poverty 
to  the  position  of  colonel  in  "the  Army  of  the 
Republic,"  —  that  Mexican  Legion  of  Honor. 

The  plot  of  "Guadalupe"  is  simple  in  the 
extreme,  and  the  dramatis  personcs  old  friends, 
in  spite  of  Spanish  mantilla  and  reboso, — the 
adopted  daughter  of  a  pious  widow,  who  loves 
in  silence  and  secret  the  artist  son  of  her  bene- 
factress ;  the  youth  who  in  turn  worships  the 
heartless  sister  of  his  false  friend ;  the  futile 
machinations  of  the  latter  to  move  the  orphan 
girl  from  the  path  of  duty ;  the  triumph  of  her 
fervent  and  lovely  spirit,  and  the  foregone  con- 
clusion which  changes  brotherly  affection  into 
devotion  of  the  lover.  The  incidental  glimpses 
are  full  of  local  traits :  the  pompous  pride  of 
the  newly  rich,  as  opposed  to  the  graceful  virtue 
of  the  poor  household  ;  the  quaint  worldliness  and 
naive  reflections  of  the  foolish  little  worldly  maid 
Amelia,  and  the  equally  quaint  sweetness  of  the 
wild-rose  Guadalupe,  —  are  all  charming.  A  cer- 
tain sketchiness  leaves  an  after-effect  of  having 
been  introduced  to  silhouettes,  rather  than  solid 
figures ;  still  the  sense  of  vagueness  only  helps 
that   of  pleasure.      The   atmosphere   is   pure,    if 


RIVA   TALACIO  I4I 

not  bracing.  The  heroine  reminds  one  somewhat 
of  Octave  Feuillet's  "Sybilla;"  but  she  lacks  that 
breath  of  life  which  stirs  in  the  veins,  and  ani- 
mates the  action,  of  the  beloved  French  girl. 
Nor  has  the  Mexican  author  more  than  a  hint 
of  the  exquisitcness  and  verve  of  the  Frenchman. 
He  has,  however,  the  cleverness  to  win  popular- 
ity, and  each  of  his  twenty  books  runs  through 
two  to  five  editions. 

Vicente  Riva  Palacio,  who  holds  a  first  place 
by  the  elegance  and  purity  of  his  language,  has 
been  also  a  prolific  writer.  His  prose  is  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  poetry.  Many  of  his  paragraphs 
are  full  of  delicate  imagery  and  rhythmic  force  ; 
with  the  essence,  but  without  the  material  form,  of 
the  poem.  Yet,  in  an  even  more  marked  degree 
than  those  of  Paz,  his  books  present  to  a  stranger 
a  startling  combination  of  diverse  traits.  To  a 
loving  and  tender  sympathy  with  nature,  which 
overflows  in  descriptive  passages  of  great  beauty, 
and  to  a  spirit  of  gentle  revcry,  developed  with 
genuine  delicacy  through  a  thousand  light  touches, 
he  adds  at  times  an  almost  rabid  exuberance  of 
melodramatic  intensity.  These  baleful  and  lurid 
periods  are  in  strange  antithesis  to  his  limpid  and 


142  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

earnest  utterances.  They  are  like  an  alarm-fire 
kindled  upon  a  quiet  hillside  on  a  peaceful  summer 
evening.  In  his  "  Calvario  y  Tabor "  the  remi- 
niscences of  the  suffering  of  the  people  through 
the  years  of  struggle  which  culminated  in  the 
overthrow  of  foreign  intervention,  and  the  fall  of 
Maximilian,  are  given  with  a  clear  directness  that 
forces  them  upon  the  consciousness  of  the  reader 
as  realities.  But  to  this  heroic  portrayal  of 
suffering  and  misfortune  he  attaches  so  many 
impossible  episodes,  and  such  a  climax  of  roman- 
tic and  unreal  horrors,  that  the  genuine  emotion 
aroused  by  the  simplicity  of  truth  and  the  touch- 
ing events  of  history  is  in  danger  of  being  lost 
in  repulsion.  There  is  something  so  incongruous 
in  this  combination,  which  can  trace  the  most 
refined  and  wholesome  impressions,  and  an  imagi- 
nation which  can  conceive  and  revel  in  a  delirium 
of  horrors,  that  the  result  is  a  series  of  shocks. 
To  a  foreigner,  at  least,  it  is  like  touching  the 
two  poles  of  a  battery  at  irregular  intervals.  The 
current  of  admiration  and  sympathy  is  being  con- 
stantly broken  up,  and  as  constantly  renewed. 
In  the  seven  hundred  pages  of  this  particular 
book  there  is  a  climax  of  death-scenes  which  are 


SIMPLICITY   AND    AFFECTATION  I43 

veritable  nightmares.  Foreseeing  that  a  certain 
number  of  dangerous  and  unnecessary  personages 
must  be  gotten  rid  of,  one  stands  appalled  at  the 
ingenuity  displayed  in  making  the  first  taking  off 
so  circumstantially  terrible.  But  the  author's 
power  is  equal  to  the  strain.  With  magnificent 
audacity  he  proceeds  and  runs  through  a  rising 
scale  of  accident,  suicide,  and  murder,  which 
swells  on  triumphantly  to  the  perfect  artistic 
end.  Yet  this  is  but  one  view  of  the  picture. 
Side  by  side  with  this  dark  and  tragic  story 
moves  the  peaceful  and  tender  tale  of  village 
life  and  quiet  homes  and  humble  affection.  It 
is  as  if  the  same  hand  could  write  at  the  same 
time  "  Monte  Cristo  "  and  the  "  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field," and  the  frenzied  outbursts  of  the  one 
revenge  themselves  for  the  gentle  serenity  of 
the  other. 

"  Calvario  y  Tabor,"  as  the  name  implies,  is  a 
story  of  suffering  and  triumph, — the  death-agony 
of  the  old  empire,  and  the  transfiguration  of  the 
new  republic.  With  the  vivid  and  thrilling  record 
of  sacrifice  and  heroism,  which  forces  the  reader 
into  profound  sympathy  with  the  purpose  of  the 
people,   are   interwoven    two    love-stories,  —  one 


144  MEXICO  — nCTURESQUE 

dark  with  passion  and  intrigue,  the  other  as 
touching  and  gentle  as  the  soft  beauty  of  the 
sylvan  landscape  in  which  it  is  set.  Here  is 
the  opening  note  of  the  pastoral  symphony.  The 
scene  is  laid  in  the  ticrra  calicnte  on  the  shore 
of  the  Pacific. 

"It  was  an  evening  in  January;  and  the  sun, 
slowly  sinking  behind  the  immense  mass  of 
waters,  shone  like  a  globe  of  burning  gold 
through  the  luminous  haze  which  filled  the 
atmosphere  with  glory.  It  appeared  to  float 
upon  the  surface  of  the  waves,  which,  'if ted  in 
long,  swelling  billows  on  the  high  seas,  broke 
in  undulations  on  the  sand,  bearing  into  shore 
curving  ripples  of  shining  foam,  white  as  the 
petals  of  a  lily  and  brilliant  as  the  stars  in  the  sky 
of  the  tropics.  Along  the  banks  of  a  small  inlet, 
running  deep  into  the  land,  the  night  air  gently 
bent  the  graceful  crowns  of  palm-trees,  and  the 
feather  -  like  leaves  swayed  gently  over  their 
reflections  in  the  tranquil  water  beneath,  broken 
by  the  slow  ripples  into  a  thousand  mirrored 
splinters  of  flower  and  foliage.  From  time  to 
time  the  sinister  form  of  a  crocodile  glided 
slowly  by,  without   disturbing   the   silence.      At 


THE   SONG   OF   NATURE  I45 

the  entrance  to  the  wood,  where  the  little  strand 
lost  itself  in  a  soft  carpet  of  moss,  a  few  huts  built 
of  branches,  and  thatched  with  leaves,  showed 
through  the  deeper  shadow.  Farther  back  slen- 
der columns  of  smoke,  outlined  against  the  paling 
sky,  showed  the  vicinity  of  an  Indian  village ;  and 
a  murmur  of  voices,  mingled  with  snatches  of 
song  and  tinkle  of  music,  blended  confusedly,  like 
the  notes  of  a  wind-harp. 

"  By  the  seaside  all  the  world  sings.  The 
deep  undertone  of  the  waves  fills  in  the  back- 
ground of  harmony.  It  is  impossible  to  listen 
to  its  ceaseless  pulsation  without  feeling  the 
desire  to  mingle  one's  voice  with  the  concert 
which  immensity  eternally  offers  to  God.  The 
breaking  of  the  billows  against  the  rocks,  the 
lisping  of  the  ripples  against  the  beach,  weave 
the  strands  of  melody ;  and  the  soul,  by  them 
moved  to  remembrance,  falls  into  reveries  of 
the  past  which  are  either  prayers  or  aspirations, 
which  are  like  the  memory  of  the  lullabies  of 
our  mother  over  the  child  at  her  breast,  or  the 
lingering  notes  of  the  favorite  air  of  the  woman 
one  first  loved. 

"As  if   in  unison  with  this    universal  impulse 


146  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

towards  harmony,  a  young  girl  of  fifteen  years 
emerged,  singing,  from  one  of  the  wood-paths, 
and  turned  in  the  direction  of  a  spring  of  pure 
water  which  bubbled  up  from  a  tangle  of  shrub- 
bery beyond.  She  was  a  slight  and  graceful 
brunette,  wearing  the  common  dress  of  the 
women  of  the  coast ;  her  great  eyes,  dark  and 
brilliant,  shone  under  long,  curving  lashes  ;  her 
white  teeth  and  small  red  lips  made  enchanting 
contrast  with  the  pale  olive  of  her  cheek ;  and 
in  the  perfect  oval  of  her  face  was  that  blended 
expression  of  purity  and  sensitiveness  which 
marks  the  temperament  of  a  painter  or  a  poet. 
A  loose  white  camisa,  covered  with  the  delicate 
embroidery  in  which  the  gentler  sex  delight  to 
satisfy  their  love  of  adornment,  and  a  simple  blue 
petticoat,  formed  her  attire.  But  around  her 
throat  hung  necklaces  of  gold  and  coral,  on  her 
arms  were  bracelets  of  shells  and  pearls,  and 
her  slender  fingers  bore  a  profusion  of  glittering 
rings.  She  was  doubtless  the  daughter  of  a  rich 
house ;  but  ampng  this  simple  people  every  woman 
works,  and  she  bore  upon  her  head  one  of  the 
huge  water-jars  of  the  country,  balanced  without 
aid  from   her  hands,  and   without   impairing  the 


A   PASTORAL  IDYL  I47 

dignity  and  elegance  of  her  carriage.  An  artist 
looking  upon  her  might  have  imagined  a  new 
Rebecca ;  for  nothing  is  more  faithful  to  the 
biblical  idea  than  the  young  girls  of  the  coast 
who  come  to  the  wells  for  water,  poising  their 
great  red  jars  upon  the  head  without  disturbing 
in  the  least  their  lightness  or  freedom  of  motion." 
Thus  Alejandra,  the  beautiful  brown  girl  of 
Acapulco,  enters  upon  the  scene  of  her  future 
trials  and  triumphs.  The  idyllic  story  of  homely 
country  life,  wherein  rich  differs  from  poor  only 
in  that  the  bounty  of  one  supplies  the  need  of 
the  other ;  the  benignant  village  padre  and  his 
almost  puritanic  sister ;  the  loves  of  Alejandra 
and  Jorge ;  and  the  family  of  strolling  players, 
poor  and  despised,  but  happy  in  virtue, — make 
a  story  full  of  refined  sentiment  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  sensational  and  forbidding  realism. 
One  is  introduced  to  the  intimate  habits  of  the 
people ;  to  the  hospitality  which  makes  every 
house  an  inn  for  the  stranger ;  to  the  charity 
which  adopts  the  orphan,  comforts  the  unfortu- 
nate, and  looks  upon  the  idiot  as  "beloved  of 
God."  But  there  is  at  the  same  time  an  awful 
picture    of    corrupt    law,   distorted    justice,    and 


148  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

almost  absolute  want   of   fixed   principle   in   the 
government  of  society. 

The  historical  portion  of  the  novel  is  superb. 
We  who  profess  admiration  for  the  qualities  of 
valor  and  perseverance,  who  consider  ourselves 
allied  in  bonds  of  brotherhood  with  the  oppressed 
of  every  land,  should  be  ashamed  of  our  ignorance 
in  regard  to  the  Mexican  struggle  for  independ- 
ence. The  vicissitudes  of  our  own  Revolution 
are  tame,  the  sufferings  even  of  the  winter  at 
Valley  Forge  sink  into  insignificance,  compared 
with  the  events  of  1864  and  1865,  in  this  tragedy 
of  dolor  and  endurance.  Whole  towns  were  swept 
out  of  existence.  The  population,  flying  through 
night  and  storm,  sought  asylum  in  unbroken 
forests,  filled  with  wild  beasts  and  noxious  rep- 
tiles, or  amid  the  rocks  and  caves  of  desert  places. 
"  Ashes  marked  the  location  of  homes  ;  the  direc- 
tion of  roads  was  outlined  by  corpses."  Menaced 
by  hunger  and  thirst,  decimated  by  pestilence,  the 
small  and  lessening  band  of  Republicans  melted 
like  smoke  before  the  advancing  Imperialists, 
whose  conquering  forces  carried  all  before  them. 
Buffeted  by  every  rudeness  of  fortune,  they  still 
persevered  in  the  unequal  struggle,  and  snatched 


MARTYRS   OF   LIBERTY  I49 

victory  at  last  from  the  very  jaws  of  death.  Like 
eagles  who  build  their  nests  uj^on  inaccessible 
peaks,  "  the  apostles  of  liberty  fled  to  the  moun- 
tain tops,  to  fight  and  to  wait;  and  too  often 
upon  the  summits  these  martyrs  found  their 
Calvary."  Sometimes,  impelled  by  a  sudden  fury 
of  passion,  a  band  of  devoted  men  crept  down 
from  their  fastnesses,  cut  their  way  through  the 
midst  of  the  enemy,  and  perished  to  a  man,  joyful 
in  the  destruction  they  dealt  in  dying.  Without 
money,  without  clothes,  without  other  arms  than 
the  guns  in  their  hands,  they  fell  by  the  roadside 
in  forced  marches,  tortured  by  fatigue  and  famine, 
**  and  were  left  unburied,  for  beasts  of  the  field 
and  birds  of  the  air.  ...  If  a  laurel  or  a  palm  had 
been  planted  to  commemorate  the  memory  of  each 
of  these,  the  land  would  be  one  impenetrable 
jungle  from  end  to  end."  Still  they  continued 
on,  "a  new  man  stepping  into  the  place  of  the 
comrade  who  had  dropped  before  him,  hurrying 
to  new  strife,  to  new  sacrifice,  in  order  to  convince 
Napoleon  and  Maximilian,  France  and  the  world, 
that  a  people  who  could  so  struggle  for  independ- 
ence was  a  people  invincible  and  worthy  of 
beins:  free." 


I50  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

The  book,  as  one  might  expect  from  the  repu- 
tation of  its  author,  is  full  of  fine,  sonorous 
Spanish,  glowing  with  descriptive  eloquence  and 
declamatory  force. 

"  Liberty  is  like  the  sun.  Its  first  rays  are  for 
the  mountains  ;  its  dying  splendor  falls  likewise 
upon  them.  No  cry  for  freedom  has  first  arisen 
from  the  plains,  as  in  no  landscape  is  the  valley 
illumined  before  the  heights  which  surround  it. 
The  remnant  of  the  defenders  of  a  free  people  flies 
ever  to  the  crags  and  hills  for  final  security,  as 
the  last  light  of  the  sun  lingers  upon  the  summits 
when  the  lowlands  are  veiled  in  obscurity." 
"Never  were  there  heard,  after  these  annihilating 
combats,  the  groans  and  cries  of  the  wounded, 
which  so  often  find  a  place  in  descriptions  of 
deserted  battle-fields.  Our  soldiers  suffered  and 
died  without  appeals  for  aid  or  lamentation  over 
life ;  as  heroes  expire,  valiant  and  resigned." 
"  Toward  the  east,  only  a  labyrinth  of  mountains, 
which,  arid  and  desolate,  lost  themselves  in  the  dis- 
tance ;  infinite  in  form,  suggesting  inexpressible 
and  awful  contortions ;  full  of  deep,  sad  shadows, 
lonely,  terrifying,  like  a  sombre  and  tempestuous 
ocean,  suddenly  petrified  with  awe  at  the  whisper 


IGNACIO   MANUEL   ALTAMIRANO  151 

of  God."  "  Nations,  like  Christ,  have  their  Tabor 
and  Calvary.  Only,  while  the  Son  of  God  passed 
first  to  transfiguration  and  thence  to  the  cross,  it 
is  the  contrary  with  them.  For  nations  are  com- 
posed of  mortals ;  the  Spirit  of  God  can  alone 
support  the  sorrow  of  Calvary  after  the  glory  of 
Tabor."  "  Our  wars  have  been  like  the  bloody 
but  beneficent  operations  of  the  surgeon,  who 
amputates  the  gangrenous  member  through  kind- 
ness to  the  sufferer ;  not  like  the  wounds  given 
by  an  assassin,  who  seeks  to  destroy  his  victim. 
Europe  condemns  without  understanding  us ; 
America  understands  without  condemning,  but 
she  remains  silent.  God,  history,  and  the  future 
will  acknowledge  our  purpose  and  our  triumph." 

Ignacio  Manuel  Altamirano  is  equally  well 
known  as  orator  and  author.  His  "Paisajes  y 
Leyendes,"  records  of  the  customs  and  traditions 
of  Mexico,  is  as  marked  for  its  temperate  and 
even  style  as  Palacio's  work  for  vehemence  and 
contrast.  Confining  himself  principally  to  the 
religious  festivals  of  the  country,  with  their 
earlier  as  well  as  later  observances,  he  gives  us 
charming  pictures  of  the  fervor  of  a  primitive 
race,  carrying  into  their  observance  of  Christian 


152  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

rites  many  suggestions  of  the  more  innocent 
forms  of  their  old  worship.  He  is  evidently  as 
widely  read  in  the  modern  classics  as  El  Peri- 
quillo  Sarniento  was  in  the  ancient,  French, 
English,  German  —  all  literatures  have  laid  their 
flowers  at  his  feet,  and  his  versatile  fancy  culls 
from  each  in  turn  to  adorn  his  page.  But  it  is 
when  he  relies  upon  himself  that  he  is  most 
attractive.  The  legend  of  "Our  Lord  of  the 
Holy  Mountain  "  is  enriched  by  a  sketch  of  the 
holy  friar.  Father  Martin  de  Valencia,  of  whom  it 
is  recorded,  that  "  every  morning,  as  he  went  out 
of  his  cave,  after  passing  the  night  in  prayer  and 
meditation,  the  little  birds  did  gather  in  the  trees 
above  his  head,  making  gracious  harmony,  and 
helping  in  praise  of  the  Creator.  And  as  he 
moved  from  place  to  place,  the  birds  did  follow ; 
nor,  since  his  death,  have  any  been  ever  seen 
there." 

Reminiscences  of  the  author's  boyhood  in  the 
little  city  of  Tixtla,  with  the  entire  population 
following  the  procession  of  Corpus  Christi  through 
streets  arched  with  green  boughs,  and  garlanded 
with  blossoms,  remind  one  of  the  Passion  Play 
of  Oberammergau.     Such  ardor  of  devotion,  such 


JUAN   MATEOS.  153 

reverent  silence,  such  echo  of  sweetness  from  the 
low -chanting  Indian  choristers,  flower -crowned, 
and  bearing  branches  of  new-budded  orchard 
trees,  in  order  that  their  fruits  might  find  favor 
in  the  eyes  of  God,  form  an  ideal  picture  of 
religious  enthusiasm.  It  reads  like  a  sketch  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  So  does  the  description  of  the 
houses,  decorated  with  every  treasured  atom  of 
color  and  drapery;  and  the  generalissimo  march- 
ing at  the  head  with  his  band  of  native  troops. 
So,  too,  does  the  story  of  Holy  Week,  beginning 
before  dawn  on  Palm  Sunday  with  young  men 
and  maidens  scouring  fields  and  w'oods  for  the 
first  wild-flowers,  with  which  to  decorate  their 
palm-branches.  The  account  of  the  lifting  up 
of  these  palms,  braided  and  knotted  with  flowers, 
during  the  canon  of  the  mass,  corresponds  pre- 
cisely with  what  we  saw  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Mexico  last  year. 

Juan  Mateos  is  famous  not  only  at  home,  but 
abroad.  He  has  reached  the  point  at  which  a 
man  becomes  a  prophet  in  his  own  country.  His 
brother  authors  quote  him  as  they  would  Goethe 
or  Lord  Byron.  His  novels  are  mainly  historical. 
The   style    irresistibly  recalls    the   elder  Dumas  ; 


154  MEXICO— PICTURESQUE 

even  the  look  of  the  page  has  that  abrupt  brevity 
of  sentence  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
French  novelist.  In  "  El  Cerro  de  las  Campanas  " 
he  gives  intense  and  dramatic  expression  again 
to  the  story  of  the  "  Usurpation."  With  only  a 
thread  of  narrative  to  sustain  interest,  he  places 
before  us  a  careful  resume  of  the  "  episode  of 
Maximilian."  It  is  pleasant  to  note,  that,  in  spite 
of  evident  and  deep  sympathy  with  the  republic 
and  the  leaders  of  the  people,  he  speaks  of  the 
hapless  emperor  more  with  sorrow  than  anger, 
and  gives  a  touching  pathos  to  the  death-scene 
on  the  lonely  "Hill  of  the  Bells,"  which  has  so 
often  moved  the  sympathy  of  strangers.  His 
hatred  and  scorn  are  reserved  for  the  Cassar 
of  the  Tuileries,  "  who  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of 
ambition  an  unfortunate  and  lov^ely  princess,  as 
well  as  the  young  Archduke  of  Austria,  whose 
ensanguined  corpse  cries  yet  for  vengeance  from 
the  imperial  tomb  at  Vienna,  wherein  it  waits 
the  vivifying  breath  of  the  resurrection."  Dram- 
atist as  well  as  artist,  his  actors  naturally  group 
themselves  upon  the  stage  of  history  or  fiction ; 
and  each  succession  of  scenes  culminates  in  a 
tableau.      The  rush  and  power  of  his  expression 


THE   MEXICAN    NOVEL  155 

sweep  one  most  eloquently  toward  the   author's 
conclusions. 

In  outward  appearance,  the  Mexican  novel  is 
exceedingly  unattractive.  Like  the  French  and 
German  brochure,  it  is  usually  unbound ;  like 
many  of  our  own,  it  is  printed  in  poor  type,  on 
miserable  paper.  It  has  ragged  edges;  and  it 
stretches  beyond  any  normal  limit,  reaching  from 
seven  hundred  to  a  thousand  pages  in  almost 
every  case.  The  books  are  evidently  not  in- 
tended for  summer  reading,  nor  for  a  people 
living  on  the  high-pressure  principle  that  obtains 
in  America,  which  makes  the  incessant  and  furi- 
ous activity  of  the  steam-engine  the  highest  ex- 
ample for  human  imitation.  When  illustrated,  the 
cuts  are  so  poor,  and  of  such  ludicrous  horror, 
that  they  would  turn  the  deepest  sentiment  into 
ridicule.  Above  all,  they  are  enormously  dear. 
Such  a  scale  of  prices  would  not  be  possible  in  a 
country  which  counted  a  large  number  of  readers 
of  fiction  among  its  population.  With  the  appetite 
for  such  intellectual  refection  comes  a  garnishing 
of  the  dish  in  which  it  is  served,  as  well  as  a 
cheapening  of  the  cost  of  refreshment.  I  am  not 
altogether  sure   but   that   the  demand   for  these 


156  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

books,  although  so  small  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  individuals,  docs  not  show  a  higher  degree 
of  appreciation  than  our  omnivorous  devouring  of 
odds  and  ends.  When,  in  despite  of  coarse  tex- 
ture, rude  letterpress,  very  low  art,  and  very  high 
prices,  a  book  runs  through  six  or  eight  editions, 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  some  higher  motive 
in  its  perusal  than  the  criminal  one  of  killing 
time.  And  in  the  face  of  melodramatic  tendency, 
and  archaic  mixture  of  sentiment  and  common- 
place ;  in  the  face  of  incoherence  of  action,  and 
want  of  subtle  analytic  power ;  yet  with  its  defer- 
ence to  the  ideal  of  womanhood,  its  large  love  of 
nature,  its  tribute  to  the  home  virtues,  its  loyalty 
to  national  traits,  its  admiration  for  simplicity 
and  purity  of  character,  and  its  enthusiastic 
patriotism,  —  the  Mexican  novel  would  seem  to 
have  found  this  more  elevated  plain,  and  based 
upon  it  a  recognized  right  to  existence. 

The  list  of  Mexican  authors  stretches  almost 
indefinitely.  Besides  those  already  mentioned  as 
novelists,  Manuel  Payno,  Pedro  Castera,  Peon 
Contreras,  Vicente  Morales,  and  Jose  Maria 
Esteva  are  well  known  as  brilliant  and  forcible 
writers.     Upon   more  serious  topics,  whether  of 


MEXICAN  AUTHORS  I57 

political  or  social  importance,  one  finds  the  names 
of  Zarco,  Pricto,  Baranda,  Siliceo,  Arriaga, 
Ocampo,  Alcaraz,  Lerdo,  Montcs,  Zamacono, 
Yaiics,  Mariscal,  and  many  others,  who  have 
contributed  largely  to  the  education  of  the  people. 
As  poets,  a  still  greater  number  of  popular  and 
celebrated  men  and  women  find  honorable  place 
in  the  ranks.  Guillermo  Prieto  is  probably  best 
known  in  what  might  be  called  national  songs, 
full  of  originality  and  patriotism.  Jos6  Maria 
Esteva  follows  him  closely  in  giving  expression 
to  the  natural  traits  and  habits  of  the  country. 
Acuiia,  Luis  G.  Ortiz,  Silva,  Gutierrez-Najera, 
Dias-Miron,  Covarrubias,  Juan  Valle,  Eduardo 
Zarate,  Francisco  Colina,  Firso  de  Cordova,  Apa- 
pite  Silva,  Manuel  Romero,  Esther  Fapia,  Rosa 
Carreto,  Refugio  Argumcda  de  Ortiz,  and  Miguel 
Ulloa.  Justo  Sierra,  one  of  the  most  virile  and 
forceful  singers,  and  Manuel  Flores,  by  his  tender- 
ness and  sweetness,  have  taken  high  rank  among 
Spanish  poets,  even  outside  their  own  country. 
In  view  of  the  impression  which  is  now  gaining 
ground  among  literary  people,  that  the  writing 
of  poetry  is  the  best  school  for  the  formation  of 
purity  of  style  in  prose,  it  may  be  interesting  to 


158  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

note  that  almost  every  popular  Mexican  romancist 
is  also  a  popular  poet.  Among  famous  religious 
writers  are  Sister  Juana  de  la  Cruz,  Senor  Carpio- 
Pesado,  Arango,  Bishop  Montesdeoca,  and  others. 
As  dramatists,  Gorostiza  and  Alarcon  rank  well 
among  Spanish  classics;  while  Calderon,  Rodri- 
guez-Galvan,  Chavero,  Mateos,  Contreras,  Acuna, 
and  others  have  produced  much  skilful  and  re- 
markable work.  Senors  Juan  de  Dios,  Pesa,  and 
Dc  las  Rosas  hold  an  enviable  place  as  poets  of 
the  home  and  domestic  life.  As  linguists,  Senors 
Altamirano,  Yscalbalceta,  and  Pimentel  are  best 
known,  the  latter  having  made  important  studies 
upon  the  Indian  dialects  of  the  country ;  while 
Orozco  y  Berra,  in  his  "  History  of  Ancient  Mex- 
ico," has  excelled  all  previous  writers  upon  the 
same  subject.  The  best  author  upon  constitu- 
tional subjects,  or  those  relating  to  political  econ- 
omy, is  probably  Seiior  Vallarta  ;  but  each  of  these 
lists  of  authors  could  be  re-enforced  by  number- 
less names.  These  given  are,  perhaps,  enough  to 
disabuse  the  American  mind  of  any  feeling  that 
Mexico  lacks  the  expression  of  literary  tastes,  or 
suffers  in  comparison  with  other  lands  from  want 
of  scholarly  interpretation. 


A   GARDEN   OF   SONG  1 59 


CHAPTER   VIII 

BLOSSOMS    OF    VERSE 

Since  poetry  is  the  flower  of  sentiment,  and  its 
highest  expression  of  beauty  and  fragrance,  one 
may  be  pardoned  for  closing  this  very  inadequate 
sketch  of  picturesque  Mexico  by  a  word  in  its 
regard.  Upon  reflection  it  should  not  appear 
strange  that  a  country  in  which  the  fiery  imagina- 
tion of  the  Castilian  had  been  grafted  upon  the 
native  gentleness  of  the  Aztec,  should  blossom 
into  verse  as  naturally  as  a  plant  turns  toward  the 
light.  The  love  of  flowers  and  birds,  which  is 
indigenous  here,  is  always  closely  allied  to  that 
of  song,  in  the  heart  of  a  nation ;  so  that  one 
should  not  be  unprepared  to  find  evidence  of  very 
general  poetic  feeling  in  a  race  which  both  history 
and  tradition  have  dowered  with  exceptional  quali- 
ties of  sweetness  and  tenderness,  and  which  since 
the  Conquest  has  had  its  native  predilections 
trained  into  higher  literary  art  by  education  and 


l6o  MFiXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

association.  Yet  it  is  a  pleasant  surprise  to  one 
unfamiliar  with  modern  authorship  in  Mexico  to 
find  the  Muse  so  entirely  at  home,  as  the  little 
volume,  from  which  the  subsequent  translations 
are  taken,  would  indicate.  Under  any  circum- 
stances, a  book  containing  upon  its  titlepage  the 
names  of  fifty  poets  "  of  reputation  and  popu- 
larity "  might  be  considered  worthy  attention, 
even  without  a  preface  apologizing  for  the  ungra- 
ciousness of  being  obliged  to  choose  so  few  among 
the  ranks  of  representative  writers.  A  country 
which  can  count  its  native  poets  in  such  whole- 
sale numbers  would  certainly  seem  to  have  more 
than  its  average  share. 

The  plan  of  the  work  is  unique.  Eighty  or 
ninety  pen  pictures  of  Mexican  women  of  position, 
distinguished  among  their  associates  for  beauty, 
for  talent,  or  for  the  higher  grace  of  fascination, 
form  its  contents.  A  prologue,  which  might 
better  be  called  a  rhapsody,  vindicates  its  motive. 
"  Never  has  the  loveliness  or  the  virtue  of  woman 
shone  more  resplendently  than  when  lifted  upon 
the  wings  of  poetry  into  the  realms  of  the  ideal ; 
as  when  proclaimed  in  rhythmic  cadence  by  the 
lyre  of  the  poet,  whose  sensitive  and  passionate 


APPRECIATION  OF  WOMAN  l6l 

soul  is  alone  capable  of  comprehending  her.  Her 
beauty,  her  tenderness,  her  smiles,  her  tears,  have 
been  the  inspiration  of  the  names  that  live  through 
ages.  It  was  she  who  made  immortal  Dante  and 
Petrarch,  Goethe  and  Alfred  de  Musset.  It  is  for 
want  of  her  inspiration  that  we  doubt  the  right  of 
Cervantes  to  be  called  a  poet,  in  spite  of  his  genius, 
and  deny  that  of  Castelar,  in  spite  of  his  artistic 
talent.  The  latter  contracted  a  civil  marriage 
with  History  and  Politics.  From  this  literary 
polygamy  may  spring  such  daughters  as  Fame,  as 
Glory,  even  as  Immortality,  but  never  one  whose 
name  is  Poetry.  ...  To  sing  the  praise  of  that 
being,  as  delicate  as  beautiful,  as  loving  as  re- 
signed, as  generous  as  tender,  as  modest  as  heroic ; 
of  her  who  is  all  love  and  sacrifice,  who  has  come 
into  the  world  to  be  the  beloved  companion  of 
youth,  and  the  sweet  consoler  of  age ;  who  gives 
wisdom  to  science,  genius  to  art,  and  heroes  to 
the  native  land,  —  ah,  to  sing  of  woman  is  for  the 
poet  to  pay  the  divine  debt  of  inspiration  to  the 
highest  work  of  humanity,  and  to  the  being  who 
has  brought  divinity  down  to  earth  !  " 

The  verses  that  follow  are  in  no  sense  love- 
songs.     There  is  scarce  a  tinge  of   passion  or  a 


l62  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

hint  of  the  glowing  scnsuousness  of  tropical  ima- 
gination in  the  entire  book.  Indeed,  it  errs  some- 
what in  the  other  extreme.  Its  expression  is 
based  upon  the  colder  and  more  formal  models 
of  the  early  English  and  French  writers,  with  a 
certain  stateliness  of  diction  and  fondness  for 
mythological  simile  which  belonged  to  the  con- 
ception of  poetry  two  centuries  ago.  But  the 
verse  remains,  in  this  case,  almost  wholly  unin- 
formed by  that  enthusiastic  flame  of  devotion, 
which  often,  in  old  times,  rendered  the  trans- 
parent disguise  of  stilted  phraseology  incapable 
of  hiding  the  natural  glow  within. 

The  idea  of  prefixing  to  each  little  poem  the 
full  name  of  its  subject  has  a  piquancy  altogether 
Southern,  We  would  choose,  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, to  shoot  our  arrows  of  song  in  the 
dark,  or  at  best  against  a  shadowy  target  of 
initials,  leaving  our  reader  to  discover  their  aim, 
— half  annoyed  if  he  should  guess  rightly,  wholly 
angry  if  he  went  astray.  These  more  sincere,  or 
perhaps  more  artful,  people  go  straight  to  the 
mark.  The  friend  or  admirer  chants  his  hymn  of 
praise  under  his  lady's  lattice  and  in  the  open 
light  of  day.     If  this  be  too  unreserved  for  love, 


A   rOETIC    EPIGRAM  163 

it  is  likewise  too  personal  for  friendship.  One 
can  judge  of  the  absolute  result  better  by  listening 
to  the  strain. 

The  chief  value  of  the  book  lies  without  doubt 
in  the  insight  it  gives  concerning  a  phase  of  Mexi- 
can character  little  credited  by  the  outside  world, 
—  the  appreciation  of  woman.  The  preface  might 
be  quoted  entire,  for  the  elevation  of  its  sentiment 
and  the  purity  of  its  ideal  of  the  sex.  Space 
allows  us  to  choose  only  one  of  its  lighter  and 
more  graceful  thoughts,  interpolated  in  the  prose 
text  to  give  the  editor's  conception  of  the  theme 
which  inspired  the  volume  :  — 

"'And  what  is  Poesy?'  she  said. 
As  laughingly  she  questioned  me. 
'The  smile  upon  thy  lips;  the  red, 
Ripe  bloom  upon  thy  cheek  so  fair; 
The  glinting  of  thy  golden  hair; 
Those  flashing  eyes  that  scorn  control ; 
Thy  budding  form ;  thy  waking  soul  — 
Thou,  thou  thyself  art  Poesy  I'" 

The  first  number  is  dedicated  to  Carmen  Romero 
Rubio  de  Diaz,  wife  of  the  president.  It  is  in  a 
more  hackneyed  vein,  and  neither  so  graceful  nor 
so  expressive  as  many  of  the  others.     We  may 


l64  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

charitably  suppose  that  the  exalted  rank  of  the 
first  lady  in  the  land  somewhat  overshadowed 
the  genius  of  the  writer,  or  that  its  insertion  was 
an  after-thought  suggested  by  policy,  and  that 
desire  to  curry  favor  in  high  places,  from  which, 
alas !  even  poets  are  not  wholly  exempt.  This  is 
the  more  to  be  regretted,  since  the  dark,  bright 
beauty  of  Senora  Diaz  ought  to  be  a  prolific 
source  of  inspiration  to  the  fortunate  mortal  who 
chose  it  as  a  text.  The  best  lines  are  in  this 
simile :  — 

"  Generous  as  the  stream  that  spreads 
Its  rich  gifts  'mid  garden-beds, 
Yet  alike  through  weed  and  sand 
Flows  in  blessing  through  the  land." 

The  translations  following  are  taken  entirely 
at  random,  and  given  as  literally  as  diverse 
rhythms,  impossible  in  English,  will  permit.  I 
notice  in  particular  one  oddity  of  construction 
which  seems  to  mark  a  favorite  form.  The  lines, 
regular  in  rhyme  and  length,  begin  with  a  small 
letter ;  but  occasionally,  at  spasmodic  intervals, 
and  without  any  connection  with  the  grammatical 
division  of  sentences,  a  capital  is  prefixed :  — 


A    rORTRAIT  165 

"TO   JOSEPHINA    ESPERON. 

"  From  her  red  lips'  chalice  fair 
Flower-like  perfume  fills  the  air ; 
And  her  voice,  like  song  of  bird, 
Thrills  the  heart  at  every  word. 
In  her  eyes'  dark  light  divine 
Glories  born  of  sunset  shine, 
And  in  radiant  splendor  preach 
Eloquence  that  passeth  speech. 

If  her  beauty  could  but  stand 
Mirrored  by  an  artist's  hand, 
Or  inspire  a  poet's  theme. 
Men  would  think  it  but  a  dream." 

The  subject  of  the  next  bit  of  verse  has 
inscribed  an  odd  mixture  of  sentiment  and 
materialism  in  her  interpreter.  The  combina- 
tion of  the  earthly  music-teacher  with  the  many 
heavenly  benefactors  of  the  beautiful  singer  is  a 
triumph  of  realism.  In  the  original,  the  abrupt 
transition  is  even  more  marked,  since  the  line 
rendered,  "  The  muse  who  presides,"  etc.,  is 
written,  — 

"  El  gran  Melesio 
En  el  Conservatorio,"  — 

a  much  more  mythical  personage  to  the  world  at 
large  than  the  one  by  whom  I  have  replaced  him. 


1 66  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

"to    VIRGINIA   CARRASQUEDO. 

"  Not  hers  are  her  graces ; 
To  gods  they  belong  I 
From  Venus  her  charms; 
Love  lent  her  his  arms; 
The  Muse  who  presides 
Over  harmony's  tides 
Hath  shared  with  her  gladly  the  sceptre  of  songl 

Morales,  the  master, 

Doth  list  and  rejoice. 
Says:  'More  than  Ulysses' 
My  fear  and  my  bliss  is : 
He  heard  but  the  ringing 
Of  sirens'  sweet  singing ; 
I  know  the  full  charm  of  Virginia's  voice.' " 

A  particularly  graceful  expression  runs  through 
the  next  lines  :  — 

"  TO    VALENTINA    GOMEZ    FARIAS. 

"  If  he  should  chant  thy  wondrous  grace. 
Dumb  would  the  singer's  music  be , 
If  he  should  strive  to  picture  thee. 

Never  a  line  could  artist  trace. 

For  of  a  soul  so  pure  as  thine. 

How  could  the  semblance  e'er  be  true, 
If  the  glad  brush  that  painted  you 

Had  not  been  dipped  in  tints  divine. 
Or  if  the  poet's  lyre  had  known 
No  tones  save  those  of  earth  alone  ! " 


A   JEU    D'ESPRIT  167 

Many  of  the  lines  are  brightened  by  jcnx 
d' esprit,  depending  for  point  upon  Spanish  words 
in  which  similarity  of  sound  or  spelling  covers  a 
totally  different  meaning.  The  archness  of  the 
little  verse  which  follows  is  more  comprehensible 
and  decidedly  epigrammatic  :  — 

"TO    GUADALUPE    DE    LA    FUENTE. 

"Once  Cupid's  eyes  were  clear, 

Open,  and  kind; 
But,  alas !  you,  my  dear. 

He  chanced  to  find; 
Only  one  glance  he  gave,  — 
Since  then,  who  paints  the  knave 

Must  paint  him  blind." 

Concha  is  at  once  the  name  of  a  sea-shell, 
and  the  pretty  Spanish  diminutive  of  the  name 
Concepcion.  In  sober  prose  it  would  be  ques- 
tionable whether  a  pearl  was  ever  found  in 
any  thing  more  romantic  than  an  oyster -shell. 
But  who  would  be  such  an  iconoclast  as  to 
overthrow  a  poetic  image  for  the  forlorn  com- 
fort of  setting  up  in  its  place  a  paltry  fact  in 
natural  history  .-* 


l68  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 


"TO    CONCHA    MARTINEZ. 

"  Above  the  white  foam  and  the  azure  sea 
A  gleaming  shell  doth  float, 
And  the  bright  sun  that  glows  resplendently 
Kisseth  the  fairy  boat. 

The  world  it  glads  with  beauty  doth  not  know 

The  treasure  in  its  breast, — 
The  precious  pearl,  that,  radiant  as  the  snow, 

Within  its  heart  doth  rest. 

Sweet  Concha !  on  life's  sea  thy  beauty  rides, 

And  man's  applause  doth  win ; 
But  only  we  who  love  thee  know  it  hides 

The  fair  white  soul  within." 

"TO    MARIA    AMELIA    ROMO. 

"  Earth  was  a  bower  of  roses  rare  and  pale, 

And  heaven  a  starry  sea; 
Through  the  soft  shadow  sang  the  nightingale 

His  wondrous  melody. 
'Twas  springtime,  and  the  dewy  dawn  was  wet, 

When,  from  its  dreaming  stirred. 
The  flower's  soul,  in  sweetness  rising,  met 

The  bright  soul  of  the  bird; 
And  from  that  kiss  thy  loveliness  was  born. 

Fair  shrine  that  doth  enclose 
The  song-bird's  voice,  the  brightness  of  the  mom, 

The  perfume  of  the  rose." 


A   POEM   IN   PROSE  I69 

In  some  cases  the  tribute  is  paid  in  a  prose 
form,  or  rather  in  one  which  suggests  the 
metrical  swing  and  irregular  cadence  of  Walt 
Whitman.  I  transcribe  literally  a  portion  of 
one :  — 

"to    MARIA    ALFARO, 

"  Nature, 
Splendid  in  all  her  manifestations, 

Has  offered  the  poet 
An  infinite  number  of  exquisite  forms 
With  which  to  compare  woman. 

But  the  glowing  imaginations  of  these  votaries  of   Apollo 
Not  content  with  the  enchanting  realities 
Of  flowers,  of  stars,  of  sunbeams,  of  birds, 
Of  palm-trees,  of  pearls,  of  diamonds  — 
Have  flown  from  the  visible  world 
To  seek  the  forms  of  seraphs  and  angels. 

Of  celestial  powers, 
And  of  the   marvellous  visions  with   which  fancy  has   peopled 

infinite  space. 
To  discover  new  graces 
With  which  to  adorn  their  idol. 

Amid  this  wealth  of  brilliant  and  magnificent  images. 

From  this  universe  of   real  or  imaginary  beauties, 

I,  who  have  now  reached  in  my  wandering  the  frigid  and  narrow 

zone  of  old  age. 
Desire  to  choose  from  my  remembrances 
A  flower,  a  pearl,  a  star, 


170  MEXICO  — riCTURESQUE 

Which  may  serve  as  an  emblem  of  a  young  girl 

Who  has  flashed 

Across  these  later  days  of  my  life. 

Is  she  a  jasmine,  blossom  sister  of   the  violet, 

And,  like  it,  hiding 

From  profane  gaze  of  the  vulgar  ? 

Is  she  Modesty,  insensible  to  the  allurements  of  flattery? 

Is  she  the  spirit  of  cheerfulness? 

Is  she  angel  of  the  fireside  ? 

Is  she  sunshine? 

Is  she  perfume? 

Alas,  I  know  not! 

In  vain  I  question  my  soul ; 

Neither  in  one  image 

Nor  in  all. 

Can  I  find  the  counterpart  of   Maria  Alfaro." 

I  close  with  an  occasional  stanza  or  two  from 
longer  poems  :  — 

*'T0    MARIA    AUBERT   Y    DUPONT. 

"  If,  mid  the  shades  on  high. 

They  should  meet,  nor  know  her  name, 
*  Beatrice  I '  would  Dante  exclaim, 
'  Leonora  ! '  would  Tasso  sigh." 

"  TO    ROSARIO  '    BARREDA. 

"Many  a  beautiful  brown  girl,  splendid, 
With  eyes  of  the  night  and  morning  blended, 
Springs  from  the  soil  of  Vera  Cruz ; 

*  The  same  word,  "  Rosario,"  is  at  once  the  name  of  a  girl  and  a  rosary. 


EPIGRAMS  171 

IJut  amid  all  the  loveliest  faces, 
Show  me  but  one  of   your  height  and  graces, — 
If  but  the  gods  would  let  me  choose  I 

Exquisite  rose  of  perfection !  soon 

You  can  no  longer  hide ;  and  then. 
When  your  bright  face  from  the  balcony  shines, 
Under  your  window  will  hang,  as  at  shrines, 

Rosaries  —  made  from  the  hearts  of  men." 

"TO    ELENA    FUENTES. 

"If  for  beautiful  Helen  of  old, 

Chosen  by  Paris,  a  city  fell. 
And  heroes  of  Greece  spent  life  and  gold, 

How  many  Troys,  under  Fate's  grim  spell. 
Would  perish  by  fire  and  sword  for  thee, 
If  each  one  who  sees  thee  might  Paris  be  1 " 

It  will  be  seen,  that,  although  in  these  songs 
there  is  no  very  marked  degree  of  originality  in 
thought  or  sentiment,  there  is  yet  a  most  dexter- 
ous handling  of  the  similes  which  have  been  used 
to  illustrate  woman's  loveliness  through  so  many 
centuries,  and  an  aptness  of  phrasing  which  often 
puts  them  in  a  new  light.  There  is,  besides,  a 
great  cleverness  in  the  use  of  poetical  forms,  and 
evidence  of  much  practical  experience  in  their 
use,  —  a  good  stock   of   tools,  and   skilful   hands 


1/2  MEXICO  — PICTURESQUE 

in  their  management.  One  may  regret  the  want 
of  that  freshness  of  conception  which  the  mind 
naturally  expects  in  the  productions  of  a  people 
with  whose  traditions  it  is  unfamiliar,  and  whose 
comparative  isolation  inspires  the  hope  of  indi- 
viduality. But  there  is  still  much  to  be  grateful 
for.  It  is  doubtful  whether  a  subject  so  exciting 
to  the  imagination,  and  so  opportune  for  the 
introduction  of  warmth  and  sensuousness  of 
expression,  has  ever  before  been  treated  by  a 
guild  of  poets  with  an  equal  delicacy  and  purity. 
And,  without  claiming  any  greater  credit,  I  think 
it  must  be  allowed  that  the  blossoms  of  this 
Mexican  garden  show  a  higher  cultivation  and 
a  more  refined  taste  than  our  ignorance  has  been 
led  to  expect  from  the  every-day  products  of  the 
Aztec  soil ;  and  that  for  this  reason,  if  for  no 
other,  they  deserve  more  than  a  passing  sense 
of  pleasure  in  their  beauty  and  fragrance. 


AN   OLD   HISTORIAN  I73 


CHAPTER   IX 

FROM  CONQUEST  TO  INDEPENDENCE 

"  The  art  and  beauty  of  historical  composition," 
said  Capt.  Bernal  Diaz  del  Castillo,  a  lieutenant 
of  Cortez,  "is  to  write  the  truth  ;  "  and  from  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
seventy-two,  when,  "  in  the  residence  of  the  royal 
court  of  audience,"  the  Spanish  historian  finished 
his  narrative,  down  to  our  own  days,  there  has 
been  only  one  story  of  the  pictorial  aspects  of 
Mexico.  The  vivid  and  accurate  description 
which  is  given  in  these  pages  is  not  surpassed 
for  precision,  for  taste,  for  sympathy,  by  that  of 
any  earlier  writer  of  all  who  may  say  with  Mrs. 
Blake,  as  Bernal  Diaz  said  of  himself,  "This  is 
no  history  of  distant  nations,  nor  vain  reveries  : 
I  relate  that  of  which  I  was  an  eye-witness^  and 
no^t  idle  reports  or  hearsayj_for ^ruth  is  sacred," 

But  whoever  undertakes  to  write  of  material 
Mexico,  even  though  he  can  say  with  equal  truth 


174  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

that  he  was  an  cyc-witness,  and  holds  truth 
sacred,  will  find  himself  falling  into  vain  revery. 
"  Reports  "  he  may  procure,  but,  in  more  senses 
than  one,  they  are  "vain;"  hearsay  he  will  find 
copious  and  contradictory ;  and  although  hun- 
dreds of  authors  have  travelled  the  country,  and 
left  their  impressions  on  record,  out  of  the  mass 
of  their  labor  little  that  is  of  absolute  value  can 
be  extracted. 

Diaz  himself  complains  of  the  elegance  and 
untrustworthiness  of  the  earlier  work  of  Fran- 
cisco Lopez  de  Gomara.  The  Abb6  Clavigero, 
who  wrote  of  Mexico  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  later,  enumerates  forty  Spanish,  Italian,  and 
Mexican  historians  from  whose  pages  he  derived 
his  own  narrative ;  and  he  alludes  somewhat 
doubtfully  to  a  long  catalogue  of  French,  English, 
Dutch,  Flemish,  and  German  writers  of  whom  he 
is  not  willing  to  admit  that  they  held  truth 
sacred.  His  patience  was  justly  exhausted  by 
one  among  them  who  described  native  princes 
going  on  elephants  to  the  court  of  the  Montezu- 
mas.  One  is  impressed,  however,  in  reading  the 
literature  of  the  past  about  this  strange  and 
still    only   dimly    understood    country,    with    the 


PART    II 

POLITICAL  AND   PROGRESSIVE 
MEXICO 

BY 

MARGARET   F.  SULLIVAN 


IN   THE   EARLY   DAYS  1/5 

permanency  of  nearly  every  thing  in  it.  Bernal 
Diaz  himself  was  not  less  affected  than  ]\Irs. 
Blake  by  the  wondrous  beauty  of  the  landscape  ; 
while  others,  of  a  later  date,  have  written  about 
the  manufactures  and  customs  of  the  country 
in  })hraseology  which  we,  who  were  there  only 
yesterday,  as  it  seems,  would  scarcely  alter.  Don 
Antonio  de  Solis,  for  instance,  "  secretary  and 
historiographer  to  his  Catholic  Majesty,"  tells  us 
that  he  saw  cotton  cloths  "  well  wove,  and  so  fine 
that  they  could  not  be  known  from  silk  but  by 
feeling."  "A  quantity  of  plumes,"  he  continues, 
"and  other  curiosities  made  of  feathers,  and 
whose  beauty  and  natural  variety  of  colors  (found 
on  rare  birds  that  country  produces)  so  placed 
and  mixed  with  wonderful  art,  distributing  the 
several  colors,  and  shadowing  the  light  with  the 
dark  so  exactly,  that,  without  making  use  of 
artificial  colors  or  of  the  pencil,  they  could  draw 
pictures,  and  would  undertake  to  imitate  nature." 
The  same  work  contains  an  excellent  woodcut  of 
Mexican  women  making  bread.  The  process,  the 
utensils,  the  implements,  are  precisely  the  same  as 
those  which  Mrs.  Blake  describes  as  now  in  use. 
Writers  in  the  present  century  only  repeat  the 


176  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

narratives  of  those  of  the  preceding  ones.  "  Notes 
on  Mexico"  in  1822,  by  "A  Citizen  of  the 
United  States,"  and  printed  in  Philadelphia,  might 
have  been  written  two  hundred  years  ago,  or  last 
week.  Mexico  is  in  many  things  the  unchan- 
ging country  of  this  continent.  The  American 
acknowledges  his  debt  to  the  works  of  Loren- 
zana,  Alzate,  Clavigero,  Boturini,  IMier,  Robinson, 
and  Humboldt ;  but  by  far  the  most  interesting 
portion  of  his  volume  is  his  unadorned  tale  of 
what  he  saw  and  heard. 

The  arcades  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  cathe- 
dral, in  which  we  spent  a  good  deal  of  time, 
existed  in  his  day.  "They  resemble  the  bazars 
of  the  East,  and  are  furnished  with  every  variety 
of  goods."  Costumes  have  changed  no  more  than 
the  making  of  intoxicants. 

In  1836  Charles  Joseph  Latrobe  wrote  "The 
Rambler  in  Mexico."  If  we  should  take  his 
account  of  scenes  during  Lent,  it  would  be  un- 
necessary to  alter  a  word.  Mexican  piety  is 
somewhat  theatrical  and  realistic  durmg  that  holy 
season.  On  Maunday  Thursday,  for  instance, 
they  fill  the  air  with  the  cricket-like  sound  of 
rattles,  made  in  all  manner  of  designs,  of  wood  or 


EXPERT   TESTIMONY  1/7 

silver,  the  substitute  for  bells  ;  and  on  Good  Friday 
they  disport  Judases  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  filled 
with  gunpowder,  which  at  the  proper  moment 
explodes.  On  Palm  Sunday  they  fill  the  churches 
in  their  indescribable  variety  of  gay  and  striking 
costumes,  bearing  in  their  hands  tall,  yellow 
palms,  making  a  much  more  impressive  sight, 
and  closer  to  the  narrative  of  the  Gospels,  than 
our  colder  climate  enables  us  to  have.  Capt. 
G.  F.  Lyon,  who  went  from  England  to  Mexico  in 
1828,  examined  closely  the  labor,  especially  the 
mining,  of  the  country.  Herdsmen  received  five 
dollars  per  month,  and  agricultural  laborers  seven 
pence  per  day.  Wages  have  slightly  risen  since 
then,  but,  unfortunately,  so  have  the  prices  of 
food  and  clothing.  "  Mexico  as  it  was  and  is," 
by  Brantz  Mayer,  was  written  in  1841-42  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  American  Legation.  He  sought 
especially  to  collect  data  from  authentic  sources 
upon  commerce,  agriculture,  manufactures,  coin- 
age, mines,  church  and  general  government.  He 
is  obliged  to  add :  "  In  many  instances  I  have 
only  been  enabled  to  present  estimates."  Two 
recent   writers,    Thomas  A.  Janvier '  and  David 

'  The  Mexican  Guide.    By  Tliomas  A.  Janvier.    Scribners. 


178  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

A.  Wells/  have  been  similarly  engaged.  They 
have  produced  useful,  but  differing  compilations. 
In  many  instances  they  have  been  able  only  to 
present  estimates.  During  our  stay  in  the  City 
of  Mexico,  we  examined  all  the  book-stores,  and 
endeavored  to  enlist  the  interest  of  kind  friends 
there  for  the  procurement  of  statistical  publica- 
tions upon  material  Mexico.  The  result  was 
two  books,  —  one,  "Atlas  Metodico,"  by  Antonio 
Garcia  Cubas,  from  the  titlepage  of  which  it  is 
apparent  that  there  is  a  geographical  and  statis- 
tical society ;  but  this  atlas  contains  only  local 
geographical  information  and  maps,  with  two 
pages  of  questions  for  teachers  and  students. 
The  other  book  was  "  Annuario  Universal,"  editor 
Philomena  Mata,  and  the  issue  for  1886  was  the 
eighth  annual  publication.  It  is  a  well-printed 
duodecimo,  two  columns  to  the  page,  a  thousand 
pages  solid  nonpareil ;  and  the  total  of  the  statis- 
tics in  it  occupies  less  than  four  pages.  The 
custom-house  claims  the  rest. 

Partly  from  observation  and  partly  out  of  au- 
thorities selected  from  various  groups, — in  an 
effort  to  keep  clear  of  partisans  against  Mexico,  — 

'  A  Study  of  Mexico.     By  David  A.  Wells,  LL.D.,  D.C.R.    Appleton. 


THE   EARLY   SPANIARDS  1/9 

and  with  the  understanding  that  in  statistics 
estimates  must  be  employed  often  in  lieu  of 
ascertained  facts,  I  venture  to  offer  some  brief 
considerations. 

"  For  the  commission  was  to  be  extended  no 
farther  than  barter  and  obtaining  gold." 

In  that  sentence,  written  by  Bernal  Diaz,  is 
compressed  the  whole  story  of  the  Spanish  in- 
vasion of  Mexico,  its  scope,  its  motive,  its  object. 
The  part  that  religion  played  in  it  is  acknowledged 
by  the  same  unquestionable  witness  with  like 
candor.  When  Cortes  was  ready  to  set  out  upon 
the  expedition,  he  caused  to  be  made  a  standard 
of  gold  and  velvet,  with  the  royal  arms,  and  a 
cross  embroidered  thereon,  and  a  Latin  motto, 
the  meaning  of  which  was,  "  Brothers,  follow 
this  holy  cross  with  true  faith,  for  with  it  we 
shall  conquer."  The  occasional  words  of  the 
Spanish  captains  to  the  natives  concerning  re- 
ligion appear  to  have  been  called  forth  more  by 
the  shock  of  seeing  human  sacrifices,  and  hearing 
that  children's  flesh  was  served  upon  the  table 
of  Montezuma,  than  by  any  earnest  desire  to 
induce   the   Mexicans    to    embrace    Christianity. 


l80  MEXICO  —  POLITICAL 

If  they  had  any  such  desire,  their  own  conduct 
was  more  than  sufficient  to  account  for  the  re- 
fusal of  Montezuma  to  act  upon  their  suggestion ; 
and  the  letters  of  Cortes  himself,  as  well  as  the 
writings  of  many  of  his  companions  and  contem- 
poraries, show  that  what  defects  the  visitor  in 
Mexico  may  see  to-day  in  the  social  organization 
are  precisely  of  the  kind  of  Christianity  which  the 
Spaniards  taught  by  their  example.  The  vices 
their  chroniclers  denounce  in  the  emperor  and 
native  princes  on  one  page,  they  themselves  adopt 
on  the  next ;  and  the  most  revolting  practices, 
abhorrent  to  faith,  and  ruinous  of  the  most  firmly 
organized  society,  find  avowals  in  language  inter- 
mixed with  prayers  and  ejaculations  of  devotion. 
They  charge  the  natives  with  superstition :  they 
were  themselves  superstitious.  They  charge  the 
natives  with  low  morals  :  they  added  lower  ones, 
if  lower  were  possible.  They  charge  the  natives 
with  cruelty  :  they  set  up  the  Inquisition  among 
them  to  enable  the  State  to  be  cruel,  while  the 
name  of  the  Church  was  borrowed  to  wear  the 
responsibility,  and  carry  down  to  our  own  time 
the    reproach.'      They   charge    the    natives   with 

'  Janvier,  p.  27. 


THE  VICEROYS  iSl 

treachery :  they  taught  them  masterly  tactics  in 
that  vice,  when  they  procured  entrance  into  the 
palace  and  confidence  of  Montezuma." 

No  matter  who,  after  Cortes,  ruled  Mexico  for 
Spain,  he  carried  out  the  original  design  of  the 
governor  of  Cuba  who  planned  the  invasion. 
Barter  and  the  obtaining  of  gold,  with  the  em- 
ployment of  religion  as  a  means  to  that  end,  is 
written  over  every  chapter  of  Spanish  rule ;  and 
the  traditions  of  despotism,  the  bigotry  against 
commerce,  the  hostility  towards  foreigners,  the 
avarice  and  sloth  which  politicians  infused  into 
the  religious  orders  for  their  own  ends,  resulting 
at  last  in  a  great  crisis,  are  all  directly  traceable 
to  the  rapacity,  the  hypocrisy,  and  the  feudalism 
of  the  invaders. 

It  would  have  made  no  difference  if  the  invader 
had  been  England,  and  the  new  religion  Protes- 
tantism. The  Spanish  domination  in  Mexico 
lasted  for  just  three  hundred  years,  from  1521 
to  1 82 1.     "The  government,  or  viceroyalty,  estab- 

'  Mr.  Wells  seems  a  little  unfair  to  the  military  character  of  the 
Mexicans,  when  he  directs  attention  to  the  fact  that  Cortez  conquered 
the  empire  with  so  insignificant  a  force.  Treachery  on  the  part  of  the 
invaders,  and  hospitality  on  that  of  the  natives,  had  as  much  as  arms  to 
do  with  his  success. 


1 82  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

lished  by  Spain  in  Mexico  seems  to  have  always 
regarded  the  attainment  of  three  things  or  results 
as  the  object  for  which  it  was  mainly  constituted, 
and  to  have  allowed  nothing  of  sentiment  or  of 
humanitarian  consideration  to  stand  for  one  mo- 
ment in  the  way  of  their  rigorous  prosecution  and 
realization.  These  were,  first,  to  collect  and  pay 
into  the  royal  treasury  the  largest  possible  amount 
of  annual  revenue  ;  second,  to  extend  and  magnify 
the  authority  and  work  of  the  established  Church  ; 
third,  to  protect  home  [i.e.  Spanish]  industries."  ' 
Is  not  that  the  description  of  the  English  domina- 
tion in  Ireland  ?  The  consequences  are  curiously 
correspondent.  The  land  in  Mexico,  like  the 
land  in  Ireland,  is  owned  by  a  small  number  of 
proprietors.  The  tillers  in  Mexico  have  no  more 
interest  in  the  results  of  their  toil,  than  had  the 
tenants  in  Ireland  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the 
land-reform  era  forced  upon  the  English  Govern- 
ment by  the  people  of  Ireland.  The  Mexican 
landlords  reside  abroad  in  large  numbers,  like  the 
absentee  landlords  of  Ireland ;  and  the  money 
produced  by  the  soil  flows  out  of  Mexico  in  ex- 
ports  of   bullion   for   these   absentees   and  their 

'  David  A.  Wells. 


THE   POLICY   OF   CONQUEST  183 

creditors,  precisely  as  the  crops  and  money  of 
Ireland  are  carried  from  her  to  replenish  the 
purses  of  her  landlords.  The  native  manufac- 
tures of  Mexico,  slight  as  they  were,  were  dis- 
couraged by  the  Spanish  administration,  for  the 
same  reason  that  England  destroyed  the  more 
vigorous  industries  of  Ireland  as  rapidly  as  they 
appeared.  Mexico  was  to  buy  only  from  the 
manufacturers  and  merchants  of  Spain  ;  gold  and 
silver,  woods,  and  a  few  products  of  soil  and  labor 
combined,  she  was  required  to  give  in  exchange 
for  what  Spain  had  to  sell.  Ireland  and  India 
have  been  required  to  give  products  of  labor  and 
soil  combined  in  exchange  for  English  manufac- 
tures. Religion  in  each  case  was  degraded  into 
the  uses  of  the  conqueror.  Human  greed  was 
the  jDassion  in  both  cases.  The  sleep  of  Mexico, 
disturbed  at  intervals  by  hideous  convulsions,  was 
the  result  on  this  continent.  A  more  muscular 
race  made  a  more  persistent  resistance  to  Eng- 
land, and  Ireland  has  begun  the  recovery  of  her 
complete  rights.     India's  day  is  not  yet  at  hand. 

It  is  a  droll  satire  upon  political  economy,  that 
Spain  accomplished  her  purpose  by  protection  in 
Mexico,  and  England  by  free  trade  in  Ireland  and 


1 84  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

India.  There  is  no  abstract  theory  yet  devised 
by  man  superior  to  natural  avarice  enforced  by 
arms. 

A  patriot  priest,  the  divine  instinct  of  nationality 
carrying  him  above  the  dreaming  masses  of  his 
fellow-countrymen,  at  length  arose  against  the 
Spanish  domination.  He  paid  with  his  life  for 
his  devotion  to  his  country,  but  the  death  of 
Hidalgo  blew  the  breath  of  liberty  into  Mexico. 
His  country  relapsed  for  a  time  under  the  old 
oppression.  In  another  decade  she  made  another 
desperate  and  more  successful,  but  far  from  suffi- 
cient, effort  ;  and,  when  the  flag  of  the  republic 
was  unfurled  in  1821,  the  symbol  upon  it  was  that 
of  the  old  native  race,  —  the  eagle  and  cactus, 
the  emblems  of  the  Aztecs.  A  people  without 
means  of  inter-communication,  of  different  lan- 
guages, in  whom  the  poetry  of  paganism  was 
often  mingled  with  a  dull  understanding  of  Chris- 
tian principles ;  whose  more  subdued  classes 
scarcely  cared  to  be  awakened  to  exertion,  and 
whose  intellectualized  caste  was  filled  with  lan- 
guid selfishness ;  a  people  who  had  no  interest 
in  their  land,  no  manufactures,  no  education ; 
whose   wants   were   simple  and   easily   supplied ; 


THE   CONSEQUENCES    OF   INVASION  1 85 

who  knew  little  of  arms,  and  possessed  none,  — 
it  was  impossible  that  such  a  people  should  be 
eager  in  seizing  upon  chances  for  the  erection  of 
representative  government  on  the  ruins  of  heredi- 
tary despotism ;  hereditary,  that  is,  not  in  the 
line  of  the  Spanish  viceroys,  but  in  the  ideas  by 
which  Mexico  was  held  under  foreign  rule.  It  is 
not  wonderful  that  revolution  followed  revolution. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  province  attacked  prov- 
ince, and  faction  collided  with  faction. 

With  the  expulsion  of  the  Spaniards,  new  foes 
came  in  from  without.  England,  the  usurer  of 
the  world,  advanced  money  upon  what  she  in- 
tended to  be,  as  in  the  case  of  Egypt,  the  security 
of  the  entire  country.  The  United  States  was 
beguiled  into  an  invasion  by  which  Mexican  valor 
was  made  to  stand  a  superb  test  against  soldiers, 
who,  unlike  Cortes  and  his  companions,  defeated 
the  Mexicans  by  arms,  but  not  by  treachery. 
Not  the  worst  misfortune  which  befell  Mexico  in 
consequence  of  the  Northern  invasion  was  the 
increase  of  her  obligations  to  England.  A  direct 
consequence  of  her  bankruptcy  was  the  intrigue 
of  France,  Spain,  and  England  for  the  invasion  of 
Mexico  after  the  breaking  out  of   our  civil  war. 


1 86  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

The  progress  of  that  struggle  convinced  two  of 
the  copartners  that  the  contemplated  enterprise 
would  be  perilous,  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine  still 
vital,  and  a  considerable  army  of  experienced 
troops,  North  and  South,  to  answer  with  equal 
alacrity  the  call  of  their  common  country  to  expel 
European  despotism  from  this  continent.  Louis 
Napoleon,  desperate  for  new  delusions  to  postpone 
his  fall,  resolved  to  take  the  chances  ;  and  the 
last  invasion  of  Mexico  was  the  child  of  his 
ambition. 

It  is  true  that  Maximilian  was  not  the  designer 
of  his  own  ruin.  It  is  unquestioned  that  he  was 
anxious  to  win  the  good-will  of  the  Mexican 
people,  and  that  it  would  have  been  the  highest 
happiness  to  him  and  his  amiable  wife  to  have 
ruled  Mexico  for  her  own  good.  The  earth  is  not 
yet  ready  to  dispense  with  the  luxuries  of  royalty, 
and  large  aggregations  of  the  human  race  are 
persuaded  that  it  is  wise  to  pay  for  the  glitter  and 
mockery  of  thrones.  And  it  may  be  true  that  a 
monarchy  in  Mexico,  constitutional  and  conserva- 
tive, maintained  with  just  firmness,  would  have 
afforded  that  tranquillity  essential  to  national  de- 
velopment.     But  experience,  human  nature,  and 


EXPERIMENT   OF   THE   EMPIRE  1 8/ 

the  re-consolidation  of  the  United  States  were  all 
opposed  to  Maximilian,  —  experience,  because 
there  is  no  instance  of  genuine  or  enduring 
national  development  under  a  ruler  representing 
political  and  industrial  interests  opposed  to  those 
of  the  people  he  tried  to  rule  ;  human  nature, 
because  his  own  blind  and  deceitful  course  ren- 
dered it  certain  that  he  should  fail ;  and  the  re- 
consolidation  of  the  United  States,  because  the 
spirit  of  the  American  people,  calm  after  the  con- 
flict, and  purged  by  the  effacement  of  slavery 
from  their  own  soil,  would  not  suffer  Old-World 
despotism  to  repeat  in  our  own  day  the  story  of 
earlier  ages. 

Maximilian,  and  the  still  more  deeply  and 
deservedly  pitied  Carlotta,  have  been  the  cause 
of  much  denunciation  of  the  Mexican  people. 
To  refuse  sympathy  to  Louis  Napoleon's  hapless 
and  beautiful  victim,  whose  reason  toppled  after 
her  heart  was  broken,  is  surely  beyond  human 
power.  The  sternest  heart  cannot  tread  unmoved 
the  lonely  cypress  paths  of  Chapultcpec,  where 
her  sad  feet  sought  to  escape  the  troop  of  sor- 
rows that  encompassed  her  husband,  Toussaint 
rOuverture,  the   emancipator,  dragged   from    his 


1 88  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

farm  in  Hayti  by  the  treachery  of  the  great 
Napoleon,  and  starved  to  death  in  the  dungeon 
of  Joux  on  the  bleak  and  snowy  Jura,  is  the 
companion  picture  for  the  demented  daughter  of 
the  king  of  the  Belgians,  widowed  and  crazed,  in 
a  palace  of  the  Montezumas,  by  the  last  of  the 
Napoleons. 

Maximilian  had  the  misfortune  to  follow  too 
closely  the  example  of  his  patron.  His  assump- 
tion of  the  crown  of  Mexico  was  made  contingent 
upon  a  popular  vote  of  approval ;  but  the  assembly 
of  re-actionaries  who  went  through  that  ceremony 
for  him  no  more  represented  the  peoj^le  of  Mexico 
than  the  people  of  any  other  land.  The  pretext 
served  its  purpose ;  but  he  speedily  freed  him- 
self from  those  who  had  been  the  aiders  of  his 
fortunes.  The  spoliation  of  the  Church  by 
the  republic,  ruthless  and  undiscriminating,  had 
created  a  conservative  party,  not  blameless  alto- 
gether, but  yet  honest  ;  and  to  that  party  Maxi- 
milian was  pledged.  To  that  party  he  owed  his 
crown.  He  cast  them  off  in  the  expectation 
that  he  could  succeed  better  by  making  friends 
of  their  enemies.  At  the  same  time,  acting,  it 
is    charged,    upon    the    advice    of    Bazaine,    and 


THE   REVOLT   OF   HUMANITY  1 89 

defying  the  best  sentiment  of  all  classes  of  the 
people,  defying  humanity  itself,  he  issued  a 
decree  which  would  have  revolted  Cortes  him- 
self. He  ordered  that  all  persons  found  in 
rebellion  against  his  pretensions  should  be  shot 
as  outlaws.  This  appalling  order  sealed  his  own 
doom.  The  mercy  he  showed  to  Mexico,  Mexico 
showed  to  him.  It  was  a  noble  impulse  which 
induced  our  Government  to  plead  for  his  life  on 
condition  that  he  should  leave  the  country  whose 
soil,  as  a  pretender  to  a  crown,  he  had  no  right 
to  touch.  It  would  have  been  better  heeded 
had  Mexico  been  able  to  recall  to  life  those 
whom,  loving  their  native  land,  and  justified  in 
resisting  foreign  invasion,  he  had  relentlessly 
sent  to  unhonored  graves. 

Could  Mexico  have  hoped  for  much  under 
a  ruler  who  sought  to  force  a  monarchy  upon  a 
people  who  had  heroically  established  a  republic; 
from  a  prince  whose  exemplars  were  Napoleons ; 
whose  first  step  after  his  enthronement  was  the 
betrayal  of  those  who  had  enthroned  him,  whose 
second  was  an  order  for  the  massacre  of  political 
opponents }  What  is  there  in  the  traditions  of 
crowns  won  by  invasion,  maintained  by  treachery, 


190  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

and  spattered  with  popular  blood,  to  justify  the 
expectation  that  Maximilian  would  have  taught 
the  Mexicans  self-government  ? 

The  only  way  for  a  nation  to  learn  self-govern- 
ment is  to  practise  it. 


LIBERTY   OF   THE  TRESS  I9I 


CHAPTER   X 

CONSTITUTION    AND    GOVERNMENT 

The  present  government  reflects  in  form  the 
progress  of  all  nations,  and  in  spirit  the  troubled 
past  of  Mexico.  Its  constitution  is  modelled 
upon  that  of  the  United  States,  and  in  its  pres- 
ent form  was  adopted  in  1857.  All  persons  born 
within  the  republic  are  free,  and,  if  slaves,  become 
freemen  by  entering  it.  Personal  liberty,  with 
its  full  significance,  is  guaranteed,  including 
liberty  of  the  press,  "  with  this  reservation,  that 
private  rights  and  the  public  peace  shall  not  be 
violated."  '  The  press  law,  many  of  whose  pro- 
visions are  admirable,  has  been  administered  in 
a  manner  to  discourage  enterprise.  There  are, 
we  are  told,  fifteen  daily  papers  in  the  capital. 
Only  two  of  them  printed  news,  as  we  understand 
the  word  ;  but  an  association  was  being  formed 
to  effect  a  connection  with  our  press  associations 

'  Janvier. 


192  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

for  the  procurement  of  at  least  a  summary  of 
European  and  the  principal  American  intelli- 
gence. Financial  reasons,  traditions,  and  custom 
make  news  important  in  Mexico  in  this  order  : 
first,  English  ;  second,  Spanish  and  Continental 
European ;  lastly.  North  American.  The  papers 
are  very  partisan,  in  that  respect  imitating  the 
press  generally  of  all  countries.  The  "  Times " 
of  London,  in  its  "opinions,"  is  no  broader  than 
the  narrowest  faction  print  of  Mexico  ;  and  the 
news  upon  which  its  editorial  utterances  are 
based,  in  affairs  political  and  religious,  is  c^uite 
as  trustworthy  as  its  opinions  are  unbiassed. 
Last  summer  it  printed  from  Rome  a  story  that 
the  Jesuits  had  poisoned  the  Pope,  and  that  they 
alone  possessed  the  antidote  by  which  his  life 
could  be  saved.  They  consented  to  save  it  on 
condition  that  he  should  issue  an  encyclical 
restoring  to  the  order  its  full  privileges,  etc. 
This  romance  was  printed  with  perfect  sober- 
ness in  the  telegraphic  columns  ;  and  an  editorial, 
ponderous  and  a  column  long,  declared  that  the 
Jesuits  ought  not  to  be  blamed,  but  that  the 
vanity  of  the  pontiff  in  consenting  to  save  his 
life  at  such  a  price  was  deplorable.     We  never 


GOVERNMENT  193 

saw  that  matched  for  fact  or  philosophy  in   any 
publication  in  Mexico. 

The  constitution  of  Mexico  recognizes  every 
right  recognized  by  our  own  organic  law.  The 
federal  power  is  vested  in  three  departments,  as 
with  us.  The  legislature  consists  of  two  houses. 
The  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  are 
elected  every  two  years,  one  for  each  forty  thou- 
sand of  the  inhabitants.  There  are  two  senators 
for  each  state,  half  of  them  elected  every  two 
years.  Congress  sits  from  April  i  to  May  31, 
and  from  Sept.  16  to  Dec.  16.  The  president, 
whose  term  is  for  four  years,  is  aided  by  a  cabinet 
composed  of  ministers  of  foreign  affairs,  of  inter- 
nal affairs,  of  justice  and  instruction,  of  public 
works,  of  finance,  of  war  and  marine.  The 
judicial  power  resides  in  the  supreme  court  and 
in  the  district  and  circuit  courts.  Formerly  the 
chief  justice  succeeded  to  the  executive  office 
in  case  of  the  death  or  disability  of  the  president. 
Now  the  succession  passes  to  the  president  and 
vice-president  of  the  Senate,  and  the  chairman 
of  the  standing  committee  of  Congress, — a  small 
representative  body  peculiar  to  the  political  organ- 
ization of  Mexico.      It  sits  during  the  recess  of 


194  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

the  legislature.  The  justices  of  the  higher  courts 
are  elected  for  a  term  of  six  years,  and  associated 
with  them  are  an  attorney-general  and  a  public 
prosecutor,  similarly  selected.  The  State  gov- 
ernments copy  the  constitution  of  the  federal 
government  so  far  as  their  relative  position  per- 
mits. The  president  is  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy.  The  former  is  composed  of 
three  sections,  —  the  active  army,  nominally  sixty- 
eight  thousand  men,  actually  at  present  less  than 
half  that  number ;  the  reserve,  twenty-four  thou- 
sand men  ;  and  the  general  reserve,  seventy 
thousand.  The  cavalry  arm  is  well  equipped, 
and  there  is  a  small  artillery  branch.  The 
national  military  school  at  Chapultepec  is  one 
of  the  best  institutions  of  the  kind  existing,  and 
receives  its  students  after  the  example  of  West 
Point.  The  navy  is  limited  to  three  or  four 
small  vessels,  incapable  of  other  than  coast  patrol 
service.  The  national  sentiment  which  the  gov- 
ernment seeks  to  promote  is  indicated  by  the 
national  festivals,  —  Feb.  5,  adoption  of  the  fed- 
eral constitution  in  1857;  May  5,  victory  over 
the  French  in  1862  ;  May  8,  birthday  of  the 
patriot  priest  Hidalgo;  May  15,  capture  of  Maxi- 


CAUSES   OF   DISAFFECTION  I95 

milian  in  1867;  Sept.  15  and  16,  declaration  of 
independence  by  Hidalgo,  18 10. 

The  area  of  the  country  is  778,590  square 
miles,  estimated,  for  there  has  never  been  a  com- 
plete survey ;  with  a  population  of  ten  million, 
estimated,  for  there  has  never  been  an  authentic 
census.  The  political  divisions  are  four  states 
on  the  northern  frontier,  five  on  the  gulf,  seven 
on  the  "  grande  oceano,"  and  eleven  in  the 
interior ;  with  one  territory,  and  the  federal  dis- 
trict corresponding  to  our  District  of  Columbia, 
except  that  the  federal  district  is  represented 
in  Congress  as  a  state. 

While  the  form  of  the  government  is  thus 
approvablc,  the  spirit  of  it  is  represented  as 
more  or  less  despotic.  Nor  is  it  clear  how  it 
can  be  otherwise.  I  found  it  everywhere  asserted 
that  the  masses  of  the  people  take  no  interest 
in  politics,  and  the  official  vote  for  president 
sustains  this.  Why,  then,  should  not  the  admin- 
istration be  despotic  ?  The  fountain  will  not 
rise  higher  than  the  source.  The  people  arc 
not  homogeneous  ;  their  languages  serve  to  keep 
them  from  understanding  each  other ;  the  mutual 
hostility  of  Church  and  State  widens  the  chasm. 


196  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

Free  public  assemblies  for  the  discussion  of 
political  matters  are  as  yet  unknown,  and  must 
be  impracticable  for  some  time  longer.  "Public 
opinion  "  is  the  expression  of  class  interest ;  and 
"  class  "  means  now,  in  Mexico,  the  landlords,  the 
professional  men,  the  practical  politicians  (who 
are  generally  old  soldiers  and  young  lawyers), 
the  students,  and  the  generals  of  the  armies. 
We  were  told,  by  patriotic  persons,  that  the 
federal  government  is  so  unscrupulously  central- 
izing that  it  practically  controls  all  the  state 
governments.  On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Wells  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  state  governments  are 
less  under  federal  control  than  in  the  United 
States.  This  contradictoriness  embarrasses  the 
visitor  at  every  turn  and  in  every  thing.  Many  of 
the  most  intelligent  Mexicans  we  met  expressed 
poignant  regret  over  the  fate  of  Maximilian  and 
the  erection  of  the  republic.  We  put  to  two 
gentlemen  of  equal  intelligence  and  undoubted 
candor,  but  of  different  pursuits,  this  question  : 
"  Which  would  the  people  prefer,  the  empire  or 
a  republic  ? "  They  answered  simultaneously  ; 
but  one  said  the  empire,  and  the  other  said  the 
republic.     Each  was  confident  that  the  other  was 


CHARGES   OF   CORRUPTION  I97 

mistaken.  He  who  preferred  the  empire  was  a 
German  and  a  manufacturer.  The  advocate  of 
the  repubHc  was  a  professor  of  mathematics. 

The  fact  remains,  that  the  republic  was  born 
of  Mexican  ideas,  has  been  maintained  exclusively 
by  Mexican  arms,  is  based  upon  sound  principles, 
and  must  gradually  awaken  the  entire  people  into 
a  healthful  and  independent  interest  in  its  perpet- 
uation. Charges  of  dishonesty  are  freely  made 
against  men  in  high  administrative  place,  as 
well  as  against  government  officials  generally. 
We  had  no  means  of  ascertaining  how  much 
truth  might  be  in  these  assertions.  If  they  be 
true,  Mexico  cannot  be  accused  of  isolation  in 
that,  at  least.  No  judgment  upon  the  Govern- 
ment would  be  reasonable  which  does  not  take 
into  account  the  configuration  of  the  country; 
its  immense  foreign  debt,  for  which  the  present 
Government  should  be  held  not  responsible  beyond 
certain  moderate  limits  ;  the  enormous  expenditure 
required,  and  the  inconsiderable  revenue  obtain- 
able ;  the  sources  whence  the  revenue  must  for 
the  present  be  derived  ;  and  the  social  state,  due 
almost  entirely  to  the  effects  of  foreign  misrule. 
"  Barter   and    the    obtaining   of   gold "  for  Spain 


198  MEXICO  — POLITICAL 

has  left  a  stamp  upon  Mexico  which  one  genera- 
tion of  comparatively  tranquil  independence  cannot 
be  expected  to  efface.  A  traveller  who  passed 
through  the  country  many  years  ago  saw  a  face 
peering  out  of  a  window  upon  a  vista  of  wonderful 
beauty.  Whether  prisoner  or  recluse  he  knew 
not,  but  said  through  the  grating,  "  How  beauti- 
ful! "  "Transeuntibus,"  was  the  laconic  answer, 
—  "To  those  who  pass  by."  So  has  it  been  with 
Mexico.  Beautiful  to  those  who  robbed  her, 
beautiful  to  the  tourist,  her  real  condition  is  one 
which  depresses  her  own  people,  whose  poverty, 
ignorance,  and  loneliness  make  them  the  most 
pitiable,  as  they  are  certainly  the  most  kindly 
and  polite,  people  on  this  continent. 


THE   LAST   DECADE  I99 


CHAPTER   XI 

RELIGION    AND    EDUCATION 

If  \vc  look  more  closely  at  the  Mexico  of  this 
century,  of  this  quarter  of  the  century,  and  of  the 
present  decade,  it  becomes  aj^parent  that  a  change, 
organic  and  constitutional,  has  been  silently  com- 
ing upon  this  ancient  and  secluded  country.  It 
is  not  a  change  brought  about  by  war,  nor  sub- 
stantially advanced  by  diplomacy.  It  is  a  silent 
revolution,  moving  gently  in  the  footsteps  of 
peace.  We  must  seek  the  evidences  of  it  in 
education,  agriculture,  and  manufactures,  and  in 
the  sources  and  uses  of  revenue. 

The  story  of  education  in  Mexico  is  one  of 
hopelessly  tangled  threads.  As  the  mystic  sym- 
bols on  the  monuments  of  Egypt  have  only  begun 
to  yield  their  secrets  to  the  archxologist,  wc  need 
not  despair  of  yet  knowing  something  of  the 
antiquity  of  a  country  whose  age  is  beyond 
present  estimate,  and  whose  earliest  civilization, 


200  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

as  indicated  by  her  superstitions,  architecture, 
costumes,  and  myths,  was  Oriental.  Of  her 
middle  age,  that  long  period  following  the  Span- 
ish invasion,  and  preceding  authentic  accessible 
accounts  by  travellers  or  natives,  the  vain  spirit 
of  exaggeration  has  been  the  chief  exploring 
activity.  On  the  one  hand,  hostile  prejudice  has 
charged  against  the  ostensible  religion  of  the  Span- 
iards the  results  due  in  large  measure  to  natural 
causes,  which  neither  political  forms  nor  moral 
forces  could  easily  overcome.  On  the  other,  shal- 
low religious  partisanship  has  credited  the  Span- 
iards with  achievements  in  Mexico,  educational 
and  moral,  of  which  there  is  little  material  proof. 

Itemizers  of  history,  for  instance,  who  rush  into 
discussion  with  an  isolated  date,  and  who  assume 
the  dignity  of  the  architect  with  the  function  of 
the  brick-carrier,  have  made  ado  over  the  fact 
that  the  first  university  on  this  continent  was 
established  in  Mexico  in  155 1.  It  is  not  true 
even  as  an  isolated  fact.  If  it  were  true,  its 
historical  value  would  consist  in  the  impression 
it  made  on  the  national  life,  not  in  its  categorical 
precedence.  The  ceremonious  authority  for  the 
creation  of  a  university  in  Mexico  was  given  by 


THE   FIRST   UNIVERSITY  20I 

Charles  V.  of  Spain  in  that  year ;  but  the  actual 
beginning  was  not  made  until  two  years  later, 
and  then  in  temporary  buildings.  The  institution 
could  not  have  known  a  prosperous  infancy,  for 
it  had  no  home  -of  its  own  for  nearly  another 
half-century.  The  building  which  now  bears  its 
name  was  not  put  up  for  nearly  two  centuries 
later.  Very  little  trustworthy  information  can 
be  procured  concerning  its  founders.  It  was  a 
child  of  Salamanca,  and  Salamanca  in  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century  was  in  its  glory  as  the 
exponent  and  defender  of  Thomas  Aquinas.  His 
latest  biographer,  speaking  of  the  Christian 
Fathers,  says,  "They  did  not  veil  themselves 
away  from  the  sight  of  men  when  they  took  up 
their  pens  to  write  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  with 
beautiful  frankness  and  simplicity,  they  wove 
their  own  portraits  in  amongst  their  teachings, 
and  that  with  a  grace  and  an  unconsciousness 
of  self  which  are  amongst  the  most  charming 
characteristics  of  single-minded  genius."  '  The 
pioneers  of  Christian  learning  in  Mexico  did  not 
follow  their  example,  but  nevertheless  they  were 
brave  and  devoted,  as  well  as  erudite  and  pious, 

'  Saint  Thomas  of  Aquin.     By  the  Very  Rev.  Roger  Bede  Vaughan. 


202  MEXICO  — PROGRIvSSIVE 

as  is  manifest  from  their  abandonment  of  their 
native  land  and  the  intellectual  luxuries  of  its 
university  society,  for  the  hardships,  mental  and 
physical,  of  a  land  to  be  reached  by  perils  of  a 
still  strange  sea. 

Doubtless  the  university  of  Mexico  did  some- 
thing for  science  and  art ;  but  its  usefulness  was 
necessarily  restricted  to  those  who  learned  or 
inherited  the  Spanish  tongue,  and  were  able  to 
acquire  the  preparatory  education  requisite  for 
admission.  That  the  area  of  its  usefulness  was 
very  narrow,  needs  no  demonstration.  It  must 
have  had  some  independence  and  aggressive 
energy,  for  it  was  several  times  suppressed  by  the 
Spanish  Government.  In  1822  a  visitor  found 
the  building  very  spacious,  and  the  institution  well 
endowed;  "but  at  present  there  are  very  few 
students."  Two  hundred  is  the  highest  number 
mentioned  as  having  been  in  attendance  at  any 
time.  The  library  consisted  then  "  of  a  small 
collection  of  books."  In  the  city  there  were 
"a  few  book-shops,"  and  the  few  books  in  them 
"were  extravagantly  dear."  "    "  Under  the  colonial 

'  The  book-stores  are  not  numerous  now ;  but  books,  and  uncommon 
ones,  are  cheap.     I  found  in  a  second-hand  shop  Tom  Moore's  Odes  of 


SCHOOLS   AND   COLLEGES  203 

system  liberal  studies  were  discouraged."  In 
1844,  when  Brantz  Mayer  was  in  the  capital,  the 
appropriation  for  the  salaries  of  the  professors  in 
the  university  was  $7,613.  There  was  no  appro- 
priation for  elementary  schools.  Of  the  colleges 
he  says,  "  The  students  who  live  within  the  walls 
are  expected  to  contribute  for  their  education,  while 
others,  who  only  attend  the  lectures  of  the  profes- 
sors, are  exempt  from  all  costs  and  charges ;  so  that 
about  two-thirds  of  the  pupils  of  every  college 
receive  their  literary  education  gratuitously."  Col- 
leges appear  to  have  been  then  as  useless  as  the 
university ;  for  out  of  a  population  of  seven  millions, 
less  than  seven  hundred  thousand  could  read. 

In  a  well-known  Church  history  published  in 
1878,  it  is  said,  "There  is  but  one  university  in 
the  country,  that  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  founded 
in  1 55 1,  having  twenty-two  professors  and  a  library 
of    fifty   thousand   volumes."  ^      The    statement, 

Anacreon  (1802) ;  Aventuras  de  Gil  Bias,  4  vols.,  Barcelona,  1817  ;  The- 
saurus Hispano-Latinus,  Madrid,  1794  ;  La  Gerusalemme  Liberata,  Turin, 
1830 ;  El  Nuevo  Testamento,  London,  1874.  The  imprimatur  is  that  of  the 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster.  The  volume  contains  an  excellent 
map  and  many  good  illustrations.  The  translation  is  approved  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Santiago. 

•  Alzog  :  Universal  Church  History. 


204  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

whether  it  refers  to  the  year  of  the  foundation  or 
the  year  of  the  publication,  is  certainly  mislead- 
ing. The  reference  is  probably  to  the  year  of 
publication,  but  it  must  have  been  based  on  much 
earlier  records ;  for  there  is  no  university  in  the 
country  to-day,  and  there  was  none  in  1878.  It 
was  abolished  in  1865.  The  building  was  first 
transferred  to  the  Ministry  of  Public  Works  ;  now 
it  is  the  National  Conservatory  of  Music.  Among 
the  subjects  of  the  paintings  in  the  interior  are 
St.  Thomas,  St,  Paul,  St.  Catherine,  and  Duns 
Scotus. 

The  charge  that  the  Spaniards  endeavored  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  letters,  and  that  the  Church 
has  antagonized  education,  requires  careful  exami- 
nation. The  printing-press  was  set  up  twenty 
years  after  the  conquest.  The  natives  could  be 
reached  by  the  press  only  through  the  extension 
of  the  Spanish  language.  The  Spaniards,  unlike 
the  English  in  Ireland,  did  not  make  the  native 
tongue  penal,  and  enact  special  statutes  for 
hanging,  disembowelling,  exiling,  or  imprisoning 
those  who  employed  it  for  teaching  purposes. 
They  kept  the  printing-press  busy  turning  out 
dictionaries,  by  which  rulers  and  ruled  were  enabled 


THE   PRINTING-PRESS  205 

to  get  a  little  nearer  each  other.  They  printed 
books  of  devotion,  —  a  fact  which  irritates  some  ; 
but  would  they  have  had  the  Greek  classics 
printed  for  the  natives,  and  works  on  metaphysics, 
science,  and  natural  philosophy  ?  Who  could 
have  read  them  ?  It  is  true  that  the  printing- 
press  does  not  seem  to  have  accomplished  much. 
But  the  obstacles  in  its  way  were  like  their  enor- 
mous mountain-ranges,  which  kept  forever  apart, 
unless  they  met  in  war,  tribes,  if  not  races,  whose 
dialects  were  inexchangeable.  The  printing-press 
had  to  make,  not  one  Spanish-Indian  or  Aztec 
dictionary,  but  as  many  dictionaries  as  there  were 
tongues.  The  natives  refused  the  Spanish  spell- 
ing-book, and  continued  to  hate  and  tease  the 
invaders.  To-day  this  diversity  of  speech  remains 
to  prove  that  the  failure  of  the  printing-press 
does  not  constitute  good  ground  for  indictment. 
There  are  at  least  five  distinct  languages  in 
Mexico,  and  millions  of  the  people  remain  totally 
or  partially  ignorant  of  the  official  language  of 
the  republic. 

There  was,  moreover,  a  political  force  always  at 
work  against  the  diffusion  of  education  through 
the  acrencies  of   the  Church.      It  was  the  same 


206  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

cause  which  operated  in  Ireland  :  the  Church, 
maintained  by  the  State,  was  not  maintained  for 
the  sake  of  religion  or  education,  but  to  provide 
for  favored  sons  of  the  invaders.  The  bishoprics 
were  filled  with  appointees  of  the  Spanish  court. 
The  support  of  their  establishments  was  made  a 
legal  burden,  and  the  story  of  the  Established 
Church  in  Mexico  runs  in  a  parallel  with  that  of 
the  Established  Church  in  Ireland.  "It  was  the 
policy  of  the  Spanish  cabinet  to  cherish  the  tem- 
poralities of  the  Mexican  Church.  The  rights  of 
primogeniture  forced  the  younger  sons  either  into 
the  profession  of  arms  or  of  religion,  and  it  was 
requisite  that  ample  provision  should  be  made 
for  them  in  secure  and  splendid  establishments. 
Thus  all  the  lucrative  and  easy  benefices  came 
into  the  hands  of  Spaniards  or  their  descendants, 
and  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  more  ele- 
vated ecclesiastics  were  persons  of  high  birth  or 
influential  connections."  '  It  was  inevitable  that 
the  causes  and  customs  which  gave  princely  in- 
comes to  clergymen  without  congregations  in  Ire- 
land ;  which  enabled  bishops  of  the  Establishment, 
entering  as  paupers  their  sparse  dioceses,  to  leave 

•  Brantz  Mayer. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS  20/ 

legacies  of  thousands  of  pounds  to  their  personal 
heirs,  while  thousands  from  whom  their  tithes 
were  wrung  died  unlettered  and  in  want,  —  should 
create  in  Mexico  an  ecclesiastical  class  and  con- 
dition of  a  corresponding  kind.  "  As  long  as 
Mexico  was  a  dependency  of  Spain,  .  .  .  the 
bishops  had  very  handsome  revenues  ;  the  largest 
being  about  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  the  smallest  about  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars."  '  The  real  estate  and  personal  property 
of  the  religious  establishments  accumulated,  from 
an  estimate  of  ninety  million  dollars  in  1844,  until, 
when  the  revolution  arrived,  the  material  wealth 
of  the  Church  furnished  temptations  too  great  to 
be  resisted. 

As  late  as  1829  the  Spanish  court  disputed 
with  the  Pope  the  right  to  nominate  bishops  for 
Mexico.  In  that  year  there  was  only  one  see 
filled  in  the  entire  country.  The  rival  parties  of 
the  country  made  the  most  of  the  political  fac- 
tiousness which  surrounded  religious  office  ;  and 
in  1833  it  was  proposed  to  confiscate  the  Church 
property,  and  apply  the  proceeds  to  the  payment 
of  the  national  debt.     This  was  slowly  and  spas- 

*  Brantz  Mayer. 


208  MEXICO  —  PROGRESSIVE 

modically  clone,  and  was  fully  accomplished  when 
Maximilian  arrived  in  the  capital  as  emperor. 
Alzog  relates  the  rest  of  the  chapter :  "  Directly 
on  his  arrival  .  .  .  the  clerical  party  demanded 
the  immediate  and  unconditional  restoration  of 
the  ecclesiastical  property  confiscated  and  sold 
during  the  ascendency  of  Juarez  and  the  French 
agency.  As  this  amounted  to  about  one-third  of 
the  real  estate  of  the  empire,  and  one-half  of  the 
immovable  property  of  the  municipalities,  and  had 
already  passed  from  the  first  to  the  second,  and  in 
some  instances  to  the  third,  purchaser,  it  was 
plainly  impossible  for  the  emperor  to  satisfy  this 
demand."  The  papal  nuncio  avowed  his  inability 
to  find  any  satisfactory  solution  of  the  question, 
and  resigned.  Maximilian  instructed  his  minis- 
ters to  bring  in  a  bill,  which  was  promptly  passed, 
vesting  the  management  and  sale  of  ecclesiastical 
property  in  the  council  of  state. 

What  Brantz  Mayer  wrote  of  the  common  clergy 
in  1844  doubtless  continued  to  be  true  :  "  Through- 
out the  republic  no  persons  have  been  more 
universally  the  agents  of  charity,  and  the  ministers 
of  mercy,  than  the  rural  clergy.  The  village  ciiras 
are  the   advisers,  the   friends,  and  protectors   of 


THE   PRIESTS  209 

their  flocks.  Their  houses  have  been  the  hospita- 
ble retreats  of  every  traveller.  Upon  all  occa- 
sions they  constituted  themselves  the  defenders 
of  the  Indians,  and  contributed  toward  the  main- 
tenance of  institutions  of  benevolence.  They 
have  interposed  in  all  attempts  at  persecution, 
and,  wherever  the  people  were  menaced  with 
injustice,  stood  forth  the  champions  of  their  out- 
raged rights.  To  this  class,  however,  the  wealth 
of  the  Church  was  of  small  import."  That  is  the 
testimony  of  an  enemy  of  the  Church.  It  is  cor- 
roborated by  that  most  imposing  fact  in  Mexican 
history  since  the  invasion,  —  that  it  was  a  priest 
who  led  the  people  in  their  first  genuine  effort  to 
throw  off  a  foreign  yoke,  and  found  a  national 
republican  government. 

The  separation  of  Church  and  State,  although 
the  mode  involved  injustice,  has  had  the  effect  of 
stimulating  both  in  behalf  of  popular  education. 
There  is  no  national  university,  but  the  people 
are  learning  to  read.  The  few  princely  sees  have 
disappeared,  but  the  people  sustain  their  clergy 
generously.  A  foreign  political  power  no  longer 
fills  the  bishoprics,  but  Rome  has  increased  their 
number  so  as  to  bring  religion  more  closely  to  the 


2  lO  MEXICO  —  PROGRESSIVE 

people.  The  first  and  most  general  result  is,  that 
the  all  but  universal  illiteracy  of  fifty  years  ago  is 
rapidly  diminishing.  The  schools  are  supported, 
partly  by  the  national  Government,  partly  by 
states  and  municipalities,  partly  by  benevolent 
societies.  Forty  years  ago  the  total  sum  expended 
on  education  by  the  Government  could  not  have 
exceeded  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Now  it  is 
more  nearly  five  million  dollars,  if  we  include  with 
the  national  appropriation  the  contributions  from 
other  sources,  public  and  private.  "  With  very 
few  exceptions,"  says  Janvier,  "free  schools,  sus- 
tained by  the  state  or  municipal  governments, 
the  Church  or  benevolent  societies,  are  found  in 
all  towns  and  villages ;  and  in  all  the  cities  and 
larger  towns,  private  schools  are  numerous.  In 
the  more  important  cities,  colleges  and  profes- 
sional schools  are  found.  .  .  .  Included  in  the 
general  scheme  are  free  night-schools  for  men 
and  women,  as  well  as  schools  in  which  trades  are 
taught."  It  must  be  owned,  however,  that  the 
history  used  in  the  schools  gives  a  version  of 
the  American  war  with  Mexico  which  would 
somewhat  surprise  Gen.  Scott  and  the  gallant 
lieutenants  who  fought  with  him. 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY  211 

A  distinguished  American  economist,'  who  saw 
the  country  two  years  ago,  says  of  the  recent 
development  of  the  educational  spirit :  — 

"  It  is  safe  to  say  that  more  good,  practical 
work  has  been  done  in  this  direction,  within  the 
last  ten  years,  than  in  all  of  the  preceding  three 
hundred  and  fifty.  At  all  of  the  important  cen- 
tres of  population,  free  schools,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  national  Government,  and  free  from  all 
Church  supervision,  are  reported  as  established ; 
while  the  Catholic  Church  itself,  stimulated,  as  it 
were,  by  its  misfortunes,  and  apparently  unwilling 
to  longer  rest  under  the  imputation  of  having 
neglected  education,  is  also  giving  much  attention 
to  the  subject,  and  is  said  to  be  acting  upon  the 
principle  of  immediately  establishing  two  schools 
wherever,  in  a  given  locality,  the  Government  or 
any  of  the  Protestant  denominations  establish 
one." 

The  Government  also  maintains  national  schools 

'  Mr.  David  A.  Wells,  like  Mrs.  Blake  and  the  writer,  was  a  member 
of  the  first  Raymond  excursion  party  which  went  from  Boston  over  the 
Mexican  Central.  It  would  be  imprudent,  at  least  for  the  present,  for 
women,  or  for  men  not  fond  of  "  roughing  it,"  to  make  tJiis  delightful 
journey  overland,  except  under  experienced  management  such  as  we 
enjoyed,  which  charges  itself  with  all  responsibility  for  the  traveller. 


212  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

of  agriculture,  medicine,  law,  engineering,  military 
science,  music,  and  fine  arts,  as  well  as  a  national 
museum  and  a  national  library.  The  charitable 
and  benevolent  institutions,  public  and  private, 
equal  in  number  and  scope,  if  they  do  not  exceed, 
our  own. 


ROAD   MAKING  213 


CHAPTER   XII 

REVENUE    AND    ITS    APPLICATION 

There  is  no  danger  that  for  many  years  to 
come,  if  ever,  the  prediction  of  Baron  von  Hum- 
boldt will  be  fulfilled,  —  that,  with  the  advantage 
of  good  roads  and  free  commerce,  the  Mexicans 
will  one  day  undersell  us  in  bread  corn  in  the  West 
Indies  and  other  markets.  Mexico  has  not  yet 
good  roads  nor  free  commerce,  nor,  unless  the  tariff 
policy  of  the  country  shall  be  radically  changed, 
can  she  have  either.  It  is  true  that  road-making 
in  Switzerland  is  naturally  no  more  difficult  than 
in  Mexico,  if  we  omit  the  water-supply,  —  a  very 
important  factor  in  all  industry.  But  the  Romans 
and  migratory  Celts  began  making  roads  in  Switz- 
erland before,  we  may  assume,  Mexico  had  sent 
a  sail  out  on  the  ocean  ;  and  the  services  which 
war  rendered  to  peace  in  the  Alps  have  been 
continually  supplemented  by  the  enlightened  self- 
ishness  of   a   people   who   are   animated   in   the 


214  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

cultivation  of  tlieir  soil  by  that  highest  incentive 
to  industry,  —  ownership.  No  one  who  has  trav- 
elled through  Holland,  over  the  bleak  and  all 
but  sterile  passes  of  the  Juras,  and  across  the 
Alps,  can  fail  to  realize  that  this  incentive  has 
made  the  agriculture  of  these  countries  what  it 
is;  while  Ireland  and  Mexico,  through  millions 
of  unused  acres,  and  other  millions  under  only 
slight  cultivation,  testify  to  the  effect  which  land- 
lordism, idle  and  oppressive,  exercises  over  the 
most  beneficent  and  indispensable  among  human 
industries. 

Yet,  without  free  commerce,  and  with  roads, 
except  the  railroad  lines,  perhaps  the  worst  in 
the  world,  and  without  machinery  until  within 
very  recent  times,  the  agriculture  of  Mexico 
under  the  republic  has  made  extraordinary  prog- 
ress. In  the  portions  of  the  valley  which  the 
Central  Mexican  traverses,  there  are  regions  with 
sufificient  water.  As  a  rule,  irrigation  is  every- 
where necessary.  This  fact  should  be  remem- 
bered always  in  judging  the  Mexican  people. 
The  tenant  who  works  land  rents,  not  so  many 
acres,  but  the  right  to  so  much  water.  In  spite 
of  this  difficulty,  the  valley  literally  blossoms  ;  and 


RIGHTS   OF  LABORERS  21$ 

along  the  river-beds,  few  and  not  uniformly  reli- 
able, two,  and  sometimes  three,  crops  a  year  are 
produced.  The  condition  of  the  tenant,  compared 
with  what  it  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
has  considerably  improved.  His  lot  then  was  like 
that  of  tenants  elsewhere.  The  Mexican  landlord 
got  the  tiller  into  debt,  and  then,  giving  him  a 
little  land  for  his  own  use,  barely  enough  to  raise 
the  corn  essential  to  life,  made  him  and  his  fam- 
ily work  out  the  debt  in  labor  on  the  farm  or 
hacienda. 

It  is  a  relief  to  find  the  Spaniards  attempting 
to  improve  the  status  of  these  victims  of  imported 
feudalism.  Las  Casas  and  others  drew  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Spanish  court  to  their  sufferings  :  — 

"  The  first  attempt  at  amelioration  was  the 
repartimicntos  dc  Indios,  by  which  they  were 
divided  among  the  Spaniards,  who  had  the  prof- 
its of  their  labor  without  a  right  to  their  persons ; 
next  the  cncomiendas,  by  which  they  were  placed 
under  the  superintendence  and  protection  of  the 
Spaniards.  The  cnconicndcro  was  bound  to  live 
in  the  district  which  contained  the  Indians  of 
his  enconiienda,  to  watch  over  their  conduct,  in- 
struct  and   civilize  them,   to  protect  them  from 


2l6  MEXICO— PROGRESSIVE 

all  unjust  persecutions,  and  to  prevent  their  being 
imposed  on  in  trafficking  with  the  Spaniards. 
In  return  for  these  services,  they  received  a 
tribute  in  labor   or  produce."  ' 

These  protectors,  like  the  zemindars  over  the 
ryots  in  India,  did  precisely  what  might  have 
been  expected.  No  men  can  safely  be  intrusted 
with  absolute  power  over  the  liberty  or  labor  of 
other  men.  "The  abuse  of  these  protecting  reg- 
ulations followed  closely  their  institution."  The 
peonage,  which  existed  legally  in  New  Mexico 
until  abolished  by  our  Congress,  was  a  relic  of 
the  "protecting"  cjicomiendas.  It  actually  exists 
in  some  parts  of  Mexico  now ;  it  must  practically 
continue  to  exist,  with  varying  degrees  of  enor- 
mity and  oppression,  until  the  idle-landlord  system 
is  abolished. 

Over  the  greater  part  of  the  country  under 
cultivation,  the  mode  of  farming  is  primitive. 
Near  the  larger  cities,  and  especially  on  the  lines 
of  the  railways,  English  and  American  machinery 
is  coming  into  use,  chiefly  the  reaper.  But  this 
can  be  true  only  of  the  rich  haciendas.  The  tiller 
who  has  no  capital,  and    receives   for   his    share 

•  Notes  on  Me.\.ico.     1S24.    London  and  Philadelphia. 


NATIVE   POrUI.ATION  21/ 

only  a  small  fraction  of  the  harvest,  will  neither 
buy  machinery,  nor,  except  along  the  railroads, 
can  he  rent  it,  since  its  transportation  otherwise 
is  next  to  impossible.  Nor  are  the  natives  quick 
in  using  the  railroads  for  local  exchange  of  com- 
modities. They  continue  to  gaze  upon  the  loco- 
motive with  awe,  and  they  cling  to  old  customs 
with  a  tenacity  not  free  from  disdain  of  the  new 
ones.  The  men  carry  extraordinary  burdens  on 
their  backs,  and  the  small  donkey  is  the  favorite 
draught  animal.  The  idea  of  raising  foods  for 
export  has  not  yet  crossed  the  brain  of  the  vast 
bulk  of  the  people.  They  undertake  to  raise 
enough  for  each  year's  local  use ;  and  so  rigorous 
is  the  calculation,  that,  if  a  bad  season  come  upon 
them,  famine  will  be  the  consequence,  unless  the 
deficiency  is  supplied  from  the  public  granaries. 
It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Government  that  no 
appeals  for  aid  are  sent  over  the  world.  That 
distinction  remains  the  undisputed  dishonor  of 
Great  Britain.  Poor  as  Mexico  is,  she  has  some 
sense  of  national  decency. 

If  Nature  has  treated  the  country  ill  in  failing 
to  furnish  roads,  and  in  heaping  up  obstacles 
against  their  construction,  thus  impeding  internal 


2l8  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

commerce,  she  has  been  no  less  parsimonious  in 
indenting  the  coasts  of  Mexico  with  harbors  for 
foreign  trade.  An  official  communication  to  our 
Government  describes  her  coasts  as  broad  belts 
of  intolerable  heat,  disease,  and  aridity.  On  the 
whole  coast-line  there  are  but  two  natural  harbors 
available  for  first-class  modern  merchant-vessels. 
But  harbors  can  be  made ;  whether  natural  or 
artificial,  they  do  not  create  commerce.  If  the 
farmers  of  Mexico  owned  the  tillable  land  ;  if  the 
burden  of  taxation  were  shifted  off  industry  upon 
land,  proportionately  to  other  property ;  if  the  tariff 
were  so  modified  that  commerce  might  freely 
seek  Mexico,  —  harbors  would  not  be  wanting. 

It  is  her  mines  that  have  kept  up  the  foreign 
trade  of  Mexico  in  spite  of  her  lack  of  harbors. 
The  total  value  of  her  exports  of  precious  metals 
annually  from  1879  to  1884  averaged  about  twenty- 
five  million  dollars.  But  her  total  exports  in  1885 
have  been  estimated  as  high  as  forty-five  million 
dollars,  the  increase  being  due  in  large  measure 
to  the  closer  relations  brought  about  between  our 
country  and  the  sister  republic  by  the  new  rail- 
road lines.  It  is  estimated  that  we  received  about 
fifty-five  per  cent  of   the  total.     The   remainder 


MANUFACTURES  219 

was  divided  about  as  follows :  England,  32.9 ; 
France,  4.8;  Germany,  3;  Spain,  2.6.  The  im- 
port trade  of  Mexico  is  the  confession  of  her 
organic  weakness.  Its  total  value  is  about  thirty- 
five  million  dollars,  and  consists  of  manufactured 
articles,  which,  for  the  most  part,  might  be  pro- 
duced at  home. 

The  Spaniards  discouraged  manufactures  in 
Mexico  for  the  benefit  of  their  home  industry ; 
they  did  not  prohibit  them.  But  the  want  of 
steam  or  water  power  necessarily  kept  domestic 
manufacturing  within  small  limits.  Mayer  records 
fifty-three  cotton  factories  in  1844,  running  some- 
thing more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
spindles.  Mr.  Wells  found  eighty-four  factories 
returned  by  the  tax-collectors  in  1883,  running 
something  more  than  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  spindles.  Mr.  Titus  Sheard,  another 
of  our  pioneer  party,  himself  a  manufacturer, 
informed  us,  that,  owing  to  the  crude  chemistry 
and  rude  methods,  cotton  costs  nearly  twice  as 
much  a  yard  in  the  Mexican  mill  as  in  the  United 
States  factories.  The  laborers  employed  are  com- 
pelled to  work  from  daylight  to  dark  for  little  pay. 
Imi)roved  machinery  and  more  modern  processes 


220  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

would  lower  the  cost  of  production  materially. 
Meanwhile,  a  considerable  quantity  of  manufac- 
tured cotton  is  imported,  in  spite  of  the  excessive 
tariff.  It  was  imported  from  Great  Britain  more 
largely  in  the  past  than  from  the  United  States. 
The  railroads  will  probably  alter  that  in  time ; 
but  at  present  raw  cotton  may  be  carried  by 
water  from  the  Gulf  to  Liverpool,  manufactured 
in  Manchester,  sent  back  to  Vera  Cruz,  and 
thence  by  expensive  rail  to  the  capital,  cheaper 
than  from  the  United  States  to  the  same  point. 
Another  curious  circumstance  is,  that  although 
the  cotton  factories  in  Mexico  have  quadrupled 
in  twenty  years,  and  although  the  land  around 
Queretaro  and  Orizaba,  the  chief  cotton-making 
centres,  is  well  suited  to  the  growth  of  the  plant, 
and  it  is  actually  grown  there.  New  Orleans  cotton 
is  used  exclusively  at  Orizaba,  and  one-half  of 
that  manufactured  at  Queretaro  is  also  American. 
There  is  no  reason  why  Mexico  should  not  grow 
and  manufacture  all  the  cotton  it  requires. 

The  other  manufactures  of  the  country  are 
trifling.  The  pottery,  which  has  a  reputation  in 
excess  of  its  merits,  is  at  least  adequate  for  the 
common  uses  of  the  people,  whose  culinary  and 


RAW   MATERIAL   AND    MANUFACTURE       221 

Other  house  habits  are  extremely  primitive.  Each 
family  can  be  its  own  potter.  The  sewing-machine 
has  given  some  impetus  to  the  leather  trade  ;  but 
although  the  Mexican  saddle  is  famous  the  world 
over,  Mexico  pays  the  United  States  nearly  thirty 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  saddles,  notwithstand- 
ing a  duty  of  fifty-five  per  cent.  This  fact  is 
accounted  for  in  the  superior  mechanical  appli- 
ances used  by  the  American  manufacturers. 

It  would  appear  at  first  sight  that  the  devisors 
of  the  Mexican  tariff  had  sought  to  rival  Nature 
in  producing  artificial  obstacles  to  match  the 
physical  ones.  From  the  moment  labor  touches 
any  article  in  Mexico,  until  it  passes  to  the  actual 
use  of  the  consumer,  it  has  hitherto  been  taxed. 
There  was  a  time  when  it  cost  Spain  forty-four 
per  cent  to  collect  the  Crown  revenues ;  her 
pernicious  example  has  left  this  tradition  of 
excessive  taxation,  and  imposed  the  support  of  an 
army  of  tax-collectors  upon  the  commerce  of 
the  country.  Take  a  yard  of  calico.  The  land 
that  produced  the  cotton  pays  nothing.  The 
landlord  has  been  the  law-maker  for  Mexico,  as 
he  has  been  for  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  India  ; 
as  he  was  for  Germany,  until  Stein  and  Harden- 


222  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

berg  released  the  soil ;  as  he  was  in  France,  until 
the  Revolution.  The  land  that  produces  the  raw 
material  pays  nothing ;  but  the  instant  labor 
touches  it,  cotton  begins  to  pay  taxes.  Every 
thing  used  in  transforming  the  boll  into  material 
is  taxed :  the  dyes  used  in  coloring  it  are  taxed  ; 
the  sale  of  each  of  them  is  individually  taxed ; 
the  wagon  that  carts  it  from  the  field  to  the 
factory  is  taxed ;  the  wheel  that  softens  it  is 
taxed  ;  the  animal  that  turns  the  wheel  is  taxed ; 
the  chemicals  that  enter  into  its  composition  are 
taxed  ;  its  transfer  from  the  factor  to  the  jobber 
is  taxed ;  its  transfer  from  the  jobber  to  the 
retailer  is  taxed ;  its  sale  to  the  purchaser  is 
taxed.  Is  it  wonderful  that  cotton  costs  more 
at  Orizaba  and  Queretaro  than  in  Lowell  or 
Manchester  ?  It  is  not  strange  that  more  is  not 
grown  in  Mexico.  The  merchant  finds  it  more 
convenient  to  pay  all  his  burdens  at  the  custom- 
house, than  each  of  the  lot  to  the  internal-revenue 
collectors. 

This  example  may  be  slightly  exaggerated,  if 
taken  literally.  But  the  principle  of  Mexican 
taxation  is  fairly  represented  in  it.  The  marvel 
is  that  so   many  blows  in  succession    upon    the 


TARIFF  223 

arm  of  industry  have  not  paralyzed  it.  A  study 
of  tlie  Mexican  tariff,  with  the  phenomenon  of 
trade  increasing  in  spite  of  it,  justifies  the  high 
expectations  which  sanguine  Mexicans  hold  of 
tlie  industrial  future  of  their  country.  They  say 
tliat  this  mode  of  raising  national  revenue  must 
in  time  be  remedied.  They  point  out  that  reme- 
dial changes  have  already  taken  place.  It  was 
formerly  the  practice  of  the  States  to  collect  toll 
on  every  thing  passing  their  borders,  no  matter 
what  national  taxes  had  already  been  paid.  This 
interstate  impost  was  prohibited  a  few  years  ago 
by  Congress  ;  but  some  of  the  States  continued 
to  enforce  it,  on  the  ground  of  necessity.  It  has 
been  abolished  by  constitutional  amendment. 

The  diminution  of  the  national  debt  to  a  total 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars, 
and  the  reduction  of  the  number  of  civil  servants, 
with  a  reduction  also  of  the  salaries  of  those 
retained,  have  put  the  national  finances  upon  a 
safer  and  more  hope-inspiring  basis.  The  reduc- 
tion of  the  tariff,  both  domestic  and  foreign, 
has  followed  quickly  upon  these  happy  achieve- 
ments of  the  Diaz  administration.  The  following 
articles  arc  now  on  the  free  list  at  the    custom- 


224  MEXICO  —  PROGRESSIVE 

houses,  where   hitherto   nearly  every  thing   paid 
high  duty :  — 

Barbed  wire  for  fencing,  hoes,  bars  for  mines,  fire-engines, 
hydraulic  lime,  printed  books,  all  sorts  of  machinery,  powder  for 
mines,  printing  type,  rags  for  paper,  wire  rope  and  cable,  church 
clocks,  and  many  useful  chemicals. 

Even  the  cockpit  has  paid  a  portion  of  the 
national  revenue ;  and  to  the  smiling  cynic  who 
may  think  too  little  of  the  politicians  who  con- 
descend to  this  lowly  and  vicious  source  of  money- 
making  for  national  necessities,  the  reminder 
may  be  opportune,  that  to  make  the  brutal  who 
indulge  in  such  sport  pay  for  their  pastime  '  is 
more  tolerable  to  civilization  than  some  methods 
of  the  governments  of  the  Old  World.  Mexico 
raises  revenue  also  by  lotteries.  The  most  pious 
of  governments  raised    money  in   the   same  way 

*  I  smile  to  recall  that  we  were  invited  to  occupy  front  seats,  as  a 
mark  of  honor,  upon  a  certain  Sunday  evening,  to  witness  this  cruel  and 
shocking  spectacle.  We  were  too  timid  or  too  super-refined  to  go.  But 
when  I  read  the  other  day  the  story  of  the  evictions  of  Bodyke,  Ire., 
where  bedridden  old  women  and  half-naked  children  were  thrown  out 
into  ditches;  the  roofs  that  sheltered  them — in  many  cases  built  by 
their  kindred  —  torn  down,  lest  they  should  reclaim  their  own ;  and  all 
this  to  extort  by  terror  from  others  rents  land  and  labor  combined 
could  not  pay  if  the  labor  lived,  the  lottery,  the  bull-fight,  and  the  cock- 
pit, as  means  of  making  money,  became  civilized  by  comparison. 


NATIONAL   REVENUE  22$ 

to  help  carry  on  the  American  war ;  it  was  only 
in  1823  that  Great  Britain  went  out  of  the 
gambling  business.  Every  nation  in  Europe  has 
indulged  in  it,  with  the  exception  (I  think)  of 
Russia.  Paris  resorts  to  a  lottery  to  raise  money 
for  the  illuminations  on  the  national  fete.  States 
of  the  American  Union  derive  revenue  from 
gambling  ;  and  at  least  one  American  city  swells 
its  coffers  from  this  source. 

In  the  uses  of  the  national  revenue  under  the 
republic  lies  the  clearest  proof  of  the  silent  revo- 
lution. In  1808  Spain  collected  a  total  revenue 
of  about  twenty  million  dollars.  Among  the 
sources,  by  the  way,  were  the  monopoly  of  the 
sale  of  playing-cards,  the  tobacco  monopoly,  one- 
ninth  of  the  tithes,  the  monopoly  of  gunpowder, 
sporting,  gambling,  the  transfer  of  all  kinds  of 
commodities,  a  tax  on  the  mines,  a  tax  on  papal 
dispensations,  a  tax  on  incomes  of  the  inferior 
clergy,  on  stamps,  and  on  ice.  The  portion  nomi- 
nally spent  in  Mexico,  and  not  conveyed  into  the 
hands  of  the  officials  of  the  Crown,  was  probably 
one-fourth  of  the  whole.  It  was  expended  chiefly 
on  the  army.  Not  a  dollar  appears  to  have  been 
devoted  to  elementary  education  or  useful  public 


226  MEXICO  — PROGRESSIVE 

works.  Marine  docks  were  built  one  year,  but 
they  were  reserved  as  arsenals.  There  were  sub- 
sidies sent  out  to  other  Spanish  colonies,  and 
there  were  pensions  for  Crown  favorites.  This 
amount  of  revenue  from  a  wretched  population 
of  about  four  millions  and  a  half  is  amazing. 

The  revenue  of  the  republic,  with  a  population 
of  at  least  ten  millions,  was  in  1870,  in  round 
numbers,  sixteen  million  dollars.  In  1886-87  it 
reached  thirty-two  million  dollars.  The  expendi- 
tures have  kept  pace  with  it,  and  in  fact  must 
have  exceeded  it,  and  must  continue  to  exceed 
it  for  some  years,  until  great  public  works  are 
constructed,  such  as  the  drainage  scheme  already 
under  contract,  canals,  bridges,  roads,  and  harbors. 
The  expenditure  by  departments  presents  a  grati- 
fying picture  of  national  order  and  growth.  The 
executive  is  the  smallest  item  in  the  budget,  only 
^49,252.  Railway  subventions  have  been  liberally 
made ;  not  as  prodigally  as  in  the  case  of  our 
Pacific  railways,  but  with  a  certainty  of  corre- 
sponding national  benefit.  Ten  years  ago  Mexico 
had  only  four  hundred  miles  of  railway.  There 
are  now  almost  ten  times  as  many.  New  York 
is  distant  from   the   ancient   Aztec    capital   only 


MEXICO   AND   TIIK    UNITED   STATES         22/ 

six  and  a  half  days'  journey.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  i)()rti()n  of  the  national  debt  which 
may  have  been  unjustly  assumed  by  the  repub- 
lic, every  dollar  of  the  revenue  of  Mexico  is 
now  applied  to  the  development  of  the  country. 
Proi;ress  is  visible  everywhere ;  and  in  every  thing 
that  enters  into  it,  moral,  political,  and  industrial, 
the  influence  of  neighborhood  is  manifest. 

It  is  true  that  the  British  bondholder  is  more 
successful  in  collecting  interest  on  Mexican  obli- 
gations than  on  Southern  Confederacy  paper, 
which  he  did  so  much  to  float  for  the  sake  of 
the  interest ;  and  it  is  true  also  that  the  capital 
invested  in  banking  and  in  a  considerable  share 
of  the  mining  enterprises  of  Mexico  is  English. 
But  every  day  brings  the  sister  republics  closer. 
Every  year  effaces  more  of  the  old  antagonism. 
English  is  supplanting  French  in  the  schools.  In 
time  it  will  make  its  way  through  the  mountains 
with  Spanish.  It  is  certain  that  the  war  with 
Mexico  was  fought  on  a  misunderstanding  which 
the  calmer  sense  of  a  later  and  more  humane 
period  would  not  repeat.  The  instincts  of  national 
self-interest  prompt  a  policy  of  kindness  and 
sincerity ;  a  policy  which  shall  respect  the  worthy 


228  IMEXICO  — rROGRESSIVE 

traditions  of  an  ancient  and  severely  tried  people, 
while  it  will  promote  a  commercial  communion 
certain  to  be  mutually  advantageous.  Such  a 
policy  will  hasten  a  commercial  treaty  just  to 
both  countries.  The  noble  sentiment  which 
should  animate  the  nation  of  Washington,  Lin- 
coln, and  Grant  ought  moreover  to  emphasize  the 
approval  of  such  a  treaty  by  an  act  of  grace,  — 
the  restoration  of  the  flags  and  cannon  captured 
by  us  in  1847.  Nations  not  familiar  with  the 
precepts  of  Christianity  were  wont  to  make  their 
war  trophies,  not  of  marble  or  metal,  but  of 
wood,  that  they  might  the  more  speedily  perish. 
Why  should  we  perpetuate  the  story  of  the 
defeat  and  humiliation  of  our  sister  republic  .-* 


IRENE  E.  JEROME'S    .    .    .    . 
1    ..,'.    =    .    ^RT   BOOKS 

THE    "PERPETUAL    PLEASURE"    SERIES 

'•  The  sketches  are  such  as  the  most  famous  men  of  the  country  might 
be  proud  to  own.  They  are  original,  strong,  and  impressive,  even  the 
lightest  of  them  ;  and  their  variety,  liite  a  procession  of  Nature,  is  a 
perpetual  pleasure." 

A    BUNCH    OF    VIOLETS.     Original    illustrations,  engraved  on 
wood  and  printed  under  the  direction  of  Geokge  T.  Andkf.w.     410,  cloth, 
$3.75;   'i'nrkey  morocco,  $9.00;  tree  calf,  $9.00;   English  seal  style,  $7.00. 
The  new  volume  is  akin  to  the  former  triumphs  of  this  favorite  artist,  whose 
"  Sketch  Hooks  "  have  achieved  a  popularity  unequalled  in  the  history  of  fine 
art   publications.     In   the  profusion   of  designs,  originality,  and  delicacy  of 
treatment,   the   channing   sketches  of  mountain,    meadow,   lake,   and   forest 
scenery  of  New  England  here  reproduced  are  unexcelled.    After  the  wealth  of 
illustration  which  this  student  of  nature  has  poured  into  the  lap  of  art,  to  pro- 
duce a  volume  in  which  there  is  no  deterioration  of  power  or  beauty,  but,  if 
possible,  increased  strength  and  enlargement  of  ideas,  gives  assurance  that  the 
■oremost  female  artist  in  America  will  hold  the  hearts  of  her  legion  of  admirers. 

NATURE'S     HALLELUJAH.     Presented  in  a  series  of  nearly 

fifty  fidl-p.nge  original   illustrations  (y!4  x  r4  inches),  engraved  on  wood  by 

Geokc.;k  T.  Andkew.     Elegantly  bound  in  gold  cloth,  full  gilt,  gilt  edges, 

$6.00;  Turkey  morocco,  $12  00;  tree  calf,  $12.00;  English  seal  style,  $10.00. 

This  volume  has  won  the  most  cordial  praise  on  both  sides  of  the  water. 

Mr.  I'rancis  H.  Underwood,  U.  S.  Consul  at  Glasgow,  v.'rites  concerning  it: 

"  I  have  never  seen  anything  superior,  if  equal,  to  the  delicacy  and  finish  of 

the  engravings,  and  the  perfection  of  the  press-work.     The  copy  you  sent  me 

has  been  looked  over  with  evident  and  unfeigned  delight  by  many  people  of 

artistic  taste.     Every   one  frankly  says,  '  It  is  impossible  to  produce  such 

effects  here,"  and,  whether  it  is  possible  or  not,  I  am  sure  it  is  ;/()/  t/oiif  ;  no 

such  effects  are  produced  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.     In  this  combination  of 

art  and  workmanship,  the  United  States  leads  the  world;  and  yon  have  a  right 

to  be  proud  of  the  honor  of  presenting  such  a  specimen  to  the  public." 

ONE  YEAR'S  SKETCH  BOOK.  Containing  forty-six  full- 
page  original  illustrations,  engraved  on  wood  by  Andrew;  in  same  bindings 
and  at  sa;ne  prices  as  "  Nature's  Hallelujah." 

"  P.very  thick,  creamy  page  is  embellished  by  some  gems  of  art.  Sometimes 
it  is  but  a  da^h  and  a  few  trembling  strokes;  at  others  an  impressive  landscape, 
but  in  all  and  through  all  runs  the  master  touch.  Miss  Jerome  has  the  genius 
of  an  -Angclo,  and  the  execution  of  a  Guido.  The  beauty  of  the  sketches  will 
be  apparent  to  all,  having  been  taken  from  our  unrivalled  New  England 
scenery." —  iVasht'iigton  Chronicle. 

THE   MESSAGE   OF  THE   BLUEBI RD,  Told  to  Me 

to  Tell  to  Others.  Original  illustrations  engraved  on  wood  by 
Andkkw.  Cloth  and  gold,  $2.00;  palatine  boards,  ribbon  ornaments,  $1.00. 
"  In  its  new  bindings  is  one  of  the  daintiest  combinations  of  song  and  illus- 
tration ever  published,  exhibiting  in  a  marked  degree  the  fine  poetic  taste  and 
wonderfully  artistic  touch  which  render  this  author's  works  so  popular.  The 
pictures  arc  exquisite,  and  the  verses  exceedingly  graceful,  appealing  to  the 
highest  sensibilities.  The  little  volume  ranks  among  the  choicest  of  holiday 
souvenirs,  and  is  beautiful  and  pleasing."  —  Boston  Tramcript. 

Sold  by  all  booksellers,  and  sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  prico 

LEE  AND   SHEPAED  Publishers  Boston 


PRRATIVES 


■  OF   NOTED- 


TRAVELLERS 


GERMANY     SEEN     WITHOUT     SPECTACLES;    or,   .Random 
Sketches  of  Various  Subjects,  Penned  from  Different  Stand- 
points in  the  Empire 
By  Hrnrv  Ruggles,  late  United  States  Consul  at  the  Island  of  Malta,  and 

at  Harcelona,  Spain.     $1.50. 

"  Mr.  Ruggles  writes  brisUly:  he  chats  and  gossips,  slashing  right  and  left 
with  stout  American  prejudices,  and  has  made  withal   a   most  entertaining 
book.''  —  Neiv-York  Tribune. 
TRAVELS    AND   OBSERVATIONS   IN    THE   ORIENT,  with  a 

Hasty  Flight  in  the  Countries  of  Europe 
By  W.\i.Tt,R  Hakniman  (ex-Govenidr  of  New  Hampshire).     $1.50. 

"  The  author,  m  his  graphic  description  of  these  sacred  localities,  refers 
with  great  aptness  to  scenes  and  personages  which  history  has  made  famous 
It  is  a  chatty  narrative  of  travel."  —  Concord  Monitor. 
FORE   AND   AFT 
A  Story  of  Actual  Sea-Life.     By  Robert  B.  Dixon,  M.D.     $1.25. 

Travels  in  Mc.\ico,  with  vivid  descriptions  of  manners  and  customs,  form  a 
large  part  of  tliis  striking  narrative  of  a  fourteen-months'  voyage. 
VOYAGE   OF   THE    PAPER   CANOE 
A  Geographical  Journey  of  Twenty-five  Hundred  Miles  from  Quebec  to  the 

Gulf  of  Mexico.      By  Nathaniel  H.   Bishop.     With  numerous  illustra- 
tions and  maps  specially  prepared  for  this  work.     Crown  8vo.     $1.50. 

"  Mr.   Bishop  did  a  very  bold  thing,  and  has   described  it  with  a  happy 
mi.\tur«  of  spirit,  keen  observation,  and  bonhomie."  —  London  Graphic. 
FOUR   MONTHS   IN    A    SNEAX-BOX 
A  Boat  Voyage  of  Twenty-six  Hundred  Miles  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 

Rivers,  and  along  the  C»ulf  of  Mexico.     By  Nathaniel  H.  Bishop.    With 

numerous  maps  and  illustrations.     $1.50. 

"His  glov/ing  pen-pictures  of  '  shanty-boat '  life    on    the   great  rivers  ara 
true  to  life.     His  descriptions  of  persons  and  places  are  graphic."  —  Zion'i 
Herald. 
A   THOUSAND   MILES'  WALK   ACROSS  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Over  the  Pampas  and  the  Andes 
By  Nathaniel  H.  Bishop.     Crown  8vo.     New  edition.     Illustrated      $1.50. 

"  Mr.  Bishop  made  this  journey  when  a  boy  of  sixteen,  has  never  forgotten 
it,  and  tells  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  reader  will  always  remember  it,  and 
wish  there  had  been  more." 
CAMPS   IN   THE    CARIBBEES 
Being  the  Adventures  of  a  Naturalist  Bird-hunting  in  the  West-India  Islands. 

By  Fred  A.  Cher.     New  edition.     With  maps  and  illustrations.     $1.50. 

"  During  two  years  he  visited  mountains,  forests,  and  people,  that  few,  if 
any,  tourists  had  ever  reached  before.     He  carried  his  camera  with  him,  and 
photographed  from  nature  the  scenes  by  which  the  book  is  illustrated."  — 
Loiiisi'ilie  Courier-Journal. 
ENGLAND    FROM    A    BACK     WINDOW;    With     Views    of 

Scotland  and  Ireland 
By  J.  M.  Bailev,  the  "  '  Danbury  News'  Man."     i2mo.     $1.00. 

"  The  peculiar  humor  of  this  writer  is  well  known.  The  British  Isles  have 
never  before  been  looked  at  in  just  the  same  way,  —  at  least,  not  by  any  one 
who  has  notified  us  of  the  f:;ci.  Mr.  Bailey's  travels  possess,  accordingly,  a 
value  of  their  own  for  the  reader,  no  matter  how  many  previous  records  of 
journeys  in  the  mother  •country  he  may  have  read." —  Rochester  Express. 


Sold  by  all  booksellers,  and  sent  hi/  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  priet 

LEE  AND  SHEPARD  PubUshers  Boston 


yOUNG    pOLKS' ■• 

BQQ^s  OF  Travel 

DRIFTING    ROUND    THE    WORLD;    A   Boy's   Adventures  by 

Sea  and  Land 
Dy  Capt.  Chari.es  \V.  Hall,  author  of  "  Adrift  in  the  Ice-Fields,"  "The 
Great  Bonanza,"  etc.     With   numerous  full-page  and  letter-press  illustra- 
tions.    Royal  Svo.     Handsome  cover.     $1.75.     Cloth,  gilt,  $2.50. 
"Out  of  the  beaten  track"  in  its  course  of  travel,  record  of  adventures, 
and  descriptions  of  life  in  Greenland,  Labrador,  Ireland,  Scotland,  England, 
France,  Holland,  Rus,ia,  Asia,  Sil)cria,  and  Alaska.     Its  hero  is  young,  bold, 
and  adventurous;  and  the  book  is  iu  every  way  interesting  and  altractive. 

EDWAHO   GREtrS  JAfANESE  SERIES 
YOUNG  AMERICANS   IN   JAPAN;   or,  The  Adventures  of  the 

Jewett  Family  and  their  Friend  Oto  Nambo 
With   170  full-page  and  letter-press  illustrations.     Royal  Svo,  7  xgj  inches. 
Handsomely  illuminated  cover.     $1.75.     Cloth,  black  and  gold,  $2.50. 
This  story,  though  essentially  a  vi'ork  of  fiction,  is  tilled  with  mteresting  and 
tnuhful  descriptions  of  the  curious  ways  of  living  of  the  good  people  of  the 
land  of  the  rising  sun. 

THE  WONDERFUL  CITY  OF  TOKIO;  or.  The  Further  Ad- 
ventures of  the  Jewett  Fainily  and  their  Friend  Oto  Nambo 

With  169  illustrations.     Royal   Svo,  7x9^  inches.     With  cover  in  gold  and 

colors,  designed  by  the  author.     $1.75.     Cloth,  black  and  gold,  $2.50. 

"  \  book  full  of  delightful  information.     The  author  has  the  happy  gift  of 

permitting  the  reader  to  view  things  as  he  saw  them.     The  illustrations  are 

mostly  drawn  by  a  Japanese  artist,  and  are  very  unique." — Chicago  Herald. 

THE  BEAR  WORSHIPPERS  OF  YEZO  AND  THE  ISLAND 
OF  KARAFUTO  ;  being  the  further  Adventures  of  the 
Jewett  Family  and  their  Friend  Oto  Nambo 

180  illustrations.     Hoards,  $1.75.     Cloth,  $2.50. 
Graphic  pen  and  pencil  pictures  of  tlie  remarkable  bearded  people  who  live 

in  the  north  of  Japan.     The  illustrations  are  by  native  Japanese  artists,  and 

give  queer  pictures  of  a  queer  people,  who  have  been  seldom  visited. 

HARR't   \N.  FRENCH'S  BOOKS 
OUR   BOYS   IN   INDIA 
The  wanderings  of  two  young  Americans  in  Hindustan,  with  their  exciting 

adventures  on  the  sacred  rivers  and  wild  mountains.    With  145  illustrations. 

Roy.al  Svo,  7  x  q.j  inches.     Bound  in  emblematic  covers  of  Oriental  design, 

$1.75.     Cloth,  black  and  gold,  .$2.50. 

\Vhile  it  lias  all  the  exciting  interest  of  a  romance,  it  is  remarkably  vivid  in 
its  pictures  of  manners  and  customs  in  the  land  of  the  Hindu.  The  illustra- 
tions are  many  and  excellent. 

OUR    BOYS    IN    CHINA 

The  adventures  of  two  young  Americans,  wrecked  in  the  China  Sea  on  their 

return   from    India,  with    their   strange  wanderings   through    the   Chinese 

F.mpire.     i83  illustrations.     Boards,  ornamental  covers  in  colors  and  gold, 

$1.75.     Cloth,  I2  50. 

This  gives  the  lurtlier  adventures  of"  Our  Boys"  of  India  fame  in  the  land 
•f  Teas  and  Queues. 

Sold  by  all  booksellers,  and  sent  by  mail,  posto(U(l,on  receipt  of  prict 

LEE  AND   SaErAUD  Publisliers  Boston 


RIGHT 


DOOKSOF  TRAVEL 

AND  Q.,       ^^..        ^1         ..        ^.        ^ 

REEZY      -  -  -  -  BY  SIX   BRIGHT   WOMEN  -  -  -  - 


A   WINTER   IN    CENTRAL   AMERICA   AND  MEXICO 

By  Helen  J.  Sanborn.     Cloth,  $1.50. 
"  A  bright,  attractive  narrative  by  a  wide-awake  Boston  girl." 

A   SUMMER   IN   THE    AZORES,  with  a  Glimpse  of  Madeira 

By  Miss  C.  Alice  Baker.     Little  Classic  style.     Cloth,  gilt  edges,  $1.25. 
"  Miss  Baker  gives  us  a  breezy,  entertaining  description  of  these  picturesque 

islands.     She  is  an  observing  traveller,  and  makes  a  graphic  picturt  of  the 

quaint  people  and  customs." —  Chicago  Advance. 

LIFE   AT   PUGET   SOUND 

With  sketches  of  travel  in  Washington  Territory,  British  Columbia,  Oregon, 
and  California.     By  Caroline  C.   Leighton.     i6mo,  cloth,  $1.50. 
"  Your  chapters  on  Puget  Sound  have  charmed  me.     Full  of  life,  deeply 

interesting,  and   with  just  that  class  of  facts,  and  suggestions  of  truth,  that 

cannot  fail  to  help  the  Indian  and  the  Chinese."  —  Wendell  Phillips. 

EUROPEAN    BREEZES 

By  Makgerv  Deane.      Cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.55.      Being  chapters   of  travel 
throuch  Germany,  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Switzerland,  covering  places  not 
usually   visited  by  Americans  in  making  "  the  Grand  Tour  of  the  Conti- 
nent," by  the  accomplished  writer  of  "  Newport  Breezes." 
"  A  very  bright,  fresh   and  amusing  account,  which  tells  us  about  a  host  of 

things  v^e  never  heard  01  before,  and  is  worth  two  ordinary  books  of  European 

travel."  —  IVoman's  Journal. 

BEATEN   PATHS  ;   or,  A  Woman's  Vacation  in  Europe 

By  Ella  W.  Thompson      i5mo,  cloth.     $1.50. 

A  lively  and  chatty  book  of  travel,  with  pen-pictures  humorous  and  graphic, 

that  are  decidedly  out  of  the  "  beaten  paths  "  of  description. 

AN    AMERICAN    GIRL   ABROAD 

By   Miss   Aoeline    Trafton,   author   of  "  His   Inheritance,"  "  Katherine 
Earle,"  etc.     36ino.     Illustrated.     $1.50. 
"  A  sparkling  account  of  a  European  trip  by  a  wide-awake,  intelligent,  and 

irrepressible  American  girl.     Pictured  with  a  freshness  and  vivacity  that  is 

delightful."  —  Utica  Observer. 

CURTIS   GUILD'S   TRAVELS 
fiRITONS   AND   MUSCOVITES;  or,  Traits  of  Two  Empires 

Cloth,  $2.00. 

OVER   THE  OCEAN;  or,  Sights  and  Scenes  in  Foreign  Lands 

By  Cuinis  Guild,  editor  of"  The  Boston  Commercial  Bulletin  '    '^"rown  8vo. 

Cloth,  $2.50. 

"  The  utmost  that  any  European  tourist  can  hope  to  do  is  to  tell  the  old 
story  in  a  somewhat  fresh  way,  and  Mr.  Guild  has  succeeded  in  every  part  of 
his  book  in  doing  this."  —  Pkilaiictpliia  Bulletin. 
ABROAD   AGAIN;  or,  Fresh  Forays  in  Foreign  Fields 
Uniform   with    "  Over   the   Ocean."      By   the    same    author.      Crown   8vo. 

Cloth,  $2.50. 

"  He  has  given  us  a  life-picture.  Europe  is  done  in  a  style  that  must  serve 
as  an  invaluable  guide  to  those  who  go  '  over  the  ocean,'  as  well  as  an  inler- 
e.='Jn5  companion."  —  Halifax  Citiztn. 


Sola  by  all  booksellera,  and  sent  bi/  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  nf  price 

LEE  AND  SHEPARD  Pablishers  Boston 
5 


AT|brmWJP"™TURE     - 
J — Tp  I  '  IN  rOREIGN  LANDS  U  opjlC 

Illustrate;!      Per  Volume  $1.50 

YOUNG  AMERICA  ABROAD 


First   So'ics. 

I.     OUTWARD    BOUND;    or,  Young  America  Afloat. 

II.    SHAMROCK  AND    THISTLE ;    or,  Young  America 
IN  Ireland  and  Scotland. 

III.  RED   CROSS;   or.  Young  America   in   England  and 

Wales. 

IV.  DIKES   AND    DITCHES;    or,    Young    America    in 

Holland  and  Belgium. 

V.  PALACE  AND   COTTAGE;   or.  Young   America    in 

France  and  Switzerland. 

VI.    DOWN  THE  RHINE;    or,  Young  America  in   Ger- 
many.  . 

Second  Scries. 

I.     UP  THE  BALTIC;  or.  Young  America  in  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark. 

II.    NORTHERN  LANDS ;  or.  Young  America  in  Russia 
and  Prussia. 

III.  CROSS  AND    CRESCENT;    or.  Young    America   in 

Turkey  and  Greece. 

IV.  SUNNY  SHORES ;  or,  Younc;  America  in  Italy  and 

Austria. 

V.     VINE   AND    OLIVE ;   or,  Young  America    in   Spain 
AND  Portugal. 

VI.  ISLES    OF   THE   SEA;    or,  Young  America   Homb- 

WARD    I'OUND. 


Sold  liij  all  Ijoohselltrs,  ami  sent  lnj  mail,  jmy/paid,  on  ruciid  of  price. 

LEE  AND  SHEPARD  Publiihers  Boston 


THE 


C-1l!lNDa  M 


0^'d 


mm 


A   WOMAN'S    INIIKJtlTANCE. 

"  Miss  Douglas's  Novels  are  all  woitli  iciulini;,  and  this  is  one  full  of 

Buggestious.iuteresUng  situation,-*,  and  bright  dialogue." — Cottage  IleuHh.. 

OUT  OF  THE  WK::CK;  or,  Was  it  a  Victory? 

"  Bright  and  entertaining  as  Miss  Douglas's  stories  always  are,  this, 

her  new  one,  leads  thorn  all."  —  Xi'io  Bed/urd  Stundard. 

FLOYD    GRANDON'S    HONOR. 

"  Fascinating  throughout,  and  worthy  of  the  reputation  of  the  author." 

TVHOM    KATHIE    MARRIED. 
Kathio  was  the  heroine  of  tlie  popular  series  of  Kalhie  Stories  fer 
young  people,  the  readers  of  which  were  very  anxious  to  know   with 
whom  Kutu;e  settled  down  in  Uie.    lleuce  this  story,  charmingly  written. 
LOST    IN   A    GREAT   CITY. 
"There  are  the  power  of  delineation  and  robustness  of  expression  that 
■would  credit  a  masculine  haud  in  the  present  volume. 

THE    OLD    WOMAN   W^HO    LIVED    IN    A    SHOE. 
"  The  romances  of  Miss  Douglas's  creation  are  all  thrillingly  interest- 
teg." —  Cambridge  Tribune. 

HOPE    MILLS;   or.  Between  Frlenfi  ami  Sweetheart. 
"  Amanda  Douglas  is  one  of  Jhe  favorite  authors  of  American  novel- 
Peaders."  —  Manche.itcr  JJin\r. 

FROM    HAND    TO    MOUTH. 
'•There  is  real  satisfaction  in  reading  this  book,  from  the  fact  that  wo 
tan  so  readily  'take  it  home'  to  ourselves."  —  Portland  Argus. 
NELLY    KINNARD'S    KINGDOM. 
"The  Hartford  Religious  Herald  "  says,  "  This  story  is  so  fascinating, 
that  one  can  'aardly  lay  it  down  after  taking  it  up." 

IN   TRUST;  or,  Dr.  Bertrand's  Household. 
"  She  writes  in  a  free,  fresh  and  natural  way,  and  her  characters  ara 
lever  overdrawn." — Manchester  Mirror. 
CLAUDIA. 
"The  plot  Is  very  dramatic,  and  Ihn  denouement  sXSirWvaf^.    Claudia,  the 
heroine,  is  one  of  those  8elf-?acriticing  characters  which  it  is  the  glory  of 
the  female  sex  to  produce."  —  Boston  Journal. 
STEPHEN    DANE. 
"  This  is  one  of  this  author's  hapi)ie8t  and  most  successful  attemi)ts  at 
novel-writing,  for  which  a  grateful  public  will  applaud  her."  —  Uer-ald. 
HOME    NOOK;  or,  Tlio  Crown  of  Duty. 
"  An  interesting  story  of  home-life,  not  wanting  in  incident,  and  writ- 
ten ia  forcible  and  attractive  style."  —  New  York  Grajihic. 

SYDNTE    ADRIANCE;  or,  Tryinij  the  AVorld. 
"  The  works  of  Mis-i  Douglas  have  stood  the  test  of  popular  judgment, 
and  become  the  fashion. 

SEVEN    DAUGHTERS. 
The  charm  of  the  story  is  the  perfectly  natural  and  home-like  air  which 
pervades  it. 

THK    rORTUNES   OV   THE   FARADW^ 
"Of  unexoo.^iionab'e  literai-y  nii'rit,  deeply  interesting  in  the  develop, 
meut  of  the  plot."  —  FuU  Uiier  Ni'cs. 

FOE.s;   OF   HER   HOUSEHOLD 
"Full   of  inlercat  Iroiii   the  fust  chapter  to  the   end." 

Sold  by  all  booksellers,  and  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receip^of  price. 

LEE     AND     SHEPAFiD,    PUBLISHERS.     BOSTON. 
19  ^ 

I/" 


•3V\v 


•3\\V 


1# 


v^ 


.^ 


'^.!/0JllV3J0> 
^OFCAIIFO% 


^OFCAllFO% 


<ril30NVS01^         v/iijJA 


.^WE•UNIVER5•//, 

1^  ^ 


^ 


^\m 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17   •   Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


<ri]33NVS01^ 


\mm\^ 


"^(SUJIIVJJU' 


'^aujiivjju 


JiiiJNVbur 


'/^ajAIINIIJIrM 


^OFCAIIFO/?^       ^OFCAllFOfti 


^ 


<rii30Nvsoi^^      "^/SiiaAiNn-iUV 


\\^F  UMIVERJ//, 


vvlOSANGFlfj^> 

o 


3  1158  01243  9187 


^  i 


ninNAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


illlllllilllllliilillllilllllilllll'i^^ 

AA    001  039  813    9 


AbvaaiHS 


?  iCU 


'/idJAIN.lJU 


,\\\EUN1VER5-/A 

^1     I 


o       _ 


'V/ 


''/- 


<.>^MIBRARY^ 


■J7]i^,. 


%a3AiNn-3\^ 


.-^ 


'-^(i/ojn 


^r  /•!  f  lP/^f 


^p  niirAn 


